ABSTRACT
This study presents some reflections on the didactic and educational possibilities of using the
cartoon magazine “Legislinho e sua turma no manguezal” (Legislinho and his gang in the
mangrove) for developing values and attitudes which favor the conservation and preservation
of mangroves, specifically those of the Perequê River in Itapema, Santa Catarina. The study
sought a theoretical basis in the critical approach, within the perspective of Paulo Freire, and
authors who use it in Environmental Education (GUIMARÃES 2005, 2006; LOUREIRO,
2004, 2006), as well as some contributions on perception and image (RIO; OLIVEIRA, 1999;
SANTAELLA, 1995). We found background support relating to comic books (CBs) and their
importance in learning in the National Curricular Parameters (BRASIL, Parâmetros, 1998),
Barbosa (2006) and Guimarães (2002) and other authors. This research, which is in the form
of a Case Study associated with documentary analysis, was carried out with 10 teachers in a
public state elementary school in Itapema, Santa Catarina. The phases of the study included: a
semi-structured interview; tabulation of the data, application of the focal group technique,
distribution of the magazine to thirty 7
th
grade students and teachers for classroom activities,
and analysis of the contents of the magazine in relation to their discourses. The categories
proposed by Trajber and Manzochi (1996) were used to identify the following in the
magazine: concepts, environmental attitudes and values, the human perspective; the value of
the playful and aesthetic side, the critical approach to environmental issues, the value of
experience and curricular contents which have been little explored. The main character of the
story, “Legislinho”, is represented by a lamp and a book. The results of the documentary
analysis identified knowledge relating to the mangrove ecosystem and its surroundings, the
importance of the laws that protect it, and the playful aspect through analogies and activities
such as coloring pictures or understanding the character’s games, trying to awaken, through
these means, a critical awareness. The teachers expressed the importance of the magazine,
indicating elements for the acquisition of concepts and changes of habits related to the
mangrove environment, paying special attention to aspects such as the legislation, which was
not very well known by the students and teachers. It was perceived that the view of the
mangrove as a dirty and polluted place no longer formed part of the teachers’ and students’
discourses after the use of the educational material and the debates about it. The students
presented their experiences and a positive view in relation to the contents and images of the
magazine, producing other materials such as folders and new stories. Some of the limitations
of the magazine were: cost, limitation of the cartoons, lack of pedagogical guidance for the
teachers, some specific aspects of the legislation governing the mangroves, and a much
greater emphasis on the issue of sustainability than that of the complexity. The magazine may
represent a tool for Elementary School teachers, helping in the process of insertion of the
environmental dimension in pedagogical practices, in the construction of knowledge and the
development of values and attitudes of awareness related to the preservation and conservation
of this ecosystem.
Key-words: Environmental Education. Mangrove. Environmental legislation. Educational
material. Comic books.