THE SPACE OF CHEMISTRY IN THE BRAZILIAN SCIENCE CENTERS AND MUSEUMS

There are several consequences of the negative or poor perception that society tends to maintain with Chemistry like the lack of interest of students in considering Chemistry as a career or the university dropout rates. Given the importance of museums and science centers to contribute to scientific education and arouse people’s interest in science, this article presents a research carried out with Brazilian science centers and museums to appraise the space of Chemistry in non-formal places of Education. The results obtained are similar to some international data showing the amount of chemistry-related content in museums is insufficient, not exceeding the 40% rate. Most of the activities are aimed at supporting formal education by offering courses for teachers and students through the use of laboratories or conducting experiments when there is available monitoring. Chemistry can be considered in the development of science museums exhibitions and, with the guidance of scientists, it can be shown and discussed without creating distorted visions, sensationalism or conceptual misconceptions.