Health Education in High School: teaching sequence on infectious and parasitic diseases

Abstract

In Biology education, it is essential to address infectious and parasitic diseases, especially Neglected
Tropical Diseases, waterborne, foodborne and vector-borne infections, which pose a challenge to
public health and require effective prevention and control strategies in the context of the One Health
approach. Therefore, the objective of this study was to contribute to Health Education in Biology
teaching in the New High School, through the application of the didactic sequence focused on
teaching infectious and parasitic diseases, integrating the One Health approach in the optional
subject of Public Health in a High School Reference School with 3rd year students. The pedagogical
actions were carried out in three stages: (1) administering a pre-activity questionnaire; (2)
conducting the activities, starting with station rotations and ending with the execution of a board
game; (3) administering the questionnaire again after the activities. It was observed that students
have difficulties identifying public health issues affecting their daily lives, such as lack of basic
sanitation, pollution/contamination and environmental degradation. This indicates a gap in the
understanding of how these socio-environmental factors influence public health and quality of life.
Thus, the importance of pedagogical strategies that contextualize teaching to the students' reality is
highlighted, making it more dynamic and allowing students to become protagonists of their learning
process through active methodologies.