This paper approaches the Tactile Cartography as a viable option to the adaptation of material used to the Teaching of Geography to visual impaired students who attend the public school in the State of Sao Paulo. It foccusses on the analisis of the Caderno do Aluno (Student's Workbook) adapted by the Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo (Secretariat of Education of the State of Sao Paulo) in two versions: braille and enlarged pitures. In this study we present the most used techniques to the production of embossed materials, its pros and cons concerning the adaptation of Geography and Cartography contents. A study was included concerning patterns of tactile maps, nationally and internationally presented. We present and discuss the experiences of teachers and students who use the material given by the Government of the State, as well as the opinions of specialists on the subject. In order to stimulate not only the educational inclusion of those students, but also the social inclusion, eliminating the physical barrier and the barries of attitude, we have produced an adapted workbook making use of the precepts of this branch of Science and we have also elaborated a complementary exercise that encompasses this branch of knowledge and that can be implemented in a common classroom. Taking the specificities of the low sight impairment into account, we have produced an application system which assists students when using the workbooks, allowing the user to access tools of proper enlargement and contrast of the picture, as well as audiodescription according to his needs. The results were obtained through interviews and surveys with teachers and students who somehow live the daily confrontation between the use of a pedagogical material which is of common use in the classroon and the specificities of the visually impaired public. Therefore we have tried to base the adoption of a complementary material to the preexisting one supplied by the Government. As philosophical results we present the reflection about the reality of the use of maps and the policies adopted by the Government of the State concerning this matter. As practical results we have obtained a Teaching of Geography and Cartography that was representative to the visual impaired students, to the other students and to the teachers, besides the socialization of the knowledge they received. There is still a lot to be done and we hope this research can serve as an incentive so that the social inclusion can be perpetuated at the heart of society: the school.

Abstract. The multi-tasking and technological phenomena of modern society form the basis for so-called active methodology options, which engage students through several different teaching strategies. Among these strategies is game-based learning, very appealing to the younger generation of students and with great didactic potential in the teaching of Cartography and Geography. With the increase in versions of games available on different platforms, their lower cost and the introduction of devices such as mobile telephones, smartphones, tablet computers and desk top computers into the school environment, it has been possible to introduce a sandbox-type game in the didactic approach to the teaching of Geography, which includes cartography content. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the potential of a methodology based on use of the digital game Minecraft for the learning of cartographic concepts related to geographical themes in primary education during the period of social isolation, in which schools remained closed in Brazil, due to the advancing COVID-19 pandemic. This didactic concept was applied to 178 students at a private school in the city of Ribeirão Preto/SP [São Paulo] in the context of remote learning, between the months of October and November 2020. The outcomes were assessed based on the students’ comprehension of the different viewpoints and the function and importance of scale in representations they created using Minecraft. The study demonstrated that, by “constructing” their representations, students could become the protagonists of their own learning process, connecting theoretical concepts to everyday practice and, thus, giving meaning to what they were being taught.

Abstract. The use of technology is closer and closer to the school, providing new perspectives to the geographic education, which includes the learning of cartography and learning through cartography as being important resources for the geographic space’ analysis. As an example of digital technologies application, this work presents a reflection on the use of virtual environments for the learning diagnosis of geographic and cartographic concepts. Digital games based on construction draw children’s and young people’s attention, and among them, Minecraft is one of the most popular. This is a game that allows its user to explore a virtual world made of cubic blocks, which imitate vegetation, rock formations, water, among other elements, in different game modes. In creative mode, it is possible to create a personal world without barriers or challenges. On its turn, in survival mode, the player is inserted in a pre-created world, and to advance and create new environments it is necessary to overcome challenges. In the years of 2017, 2018 and 2019, about 500 students between 10 and 13 years old were invited to build, in creative mode, watersheds presented with different characteristics, in order to figure out their main elements and their relation to human development. During the sequence of activities, students were divided into groups up to five and they had to build the watershed randomly designated to them by lot, including the specific characteristics requested by the teacher. After the construction, elements such as point of view, proportion, and coordinates were used to present the final projects. In addition to the great participation in the activity, the work inside the game provided the application of fundamental concepts for the reading and interpretation of maps, besides those related to water resources.From that experience, the research unfolded in proposing the same activity to a group of senior high school students. Four students between 16 and 18 years old were challenged to build, also in creative mode, an environment that reproduced a watershed. This experience used the Minecraft Windows 10 (Beta – 1.16.0.57) version, and in about four hours the environment with a watershed was developed. Due to the age range and game experience, it was remarkable the students’ concern with the project’s details, especially with the relation of proportion and seeking solutions for the stages of construction. In this way, it was possible to assess that the participants used their knowledge of scale, orientation, and geographic coordinates to create the environment, demonstrating the game’s capacity not only to provide the development of abilities, as registered in the experience with the younger students, but also to diagnose the abilities developed along the school years, in the older students’ case.It is important to highlight that to use and seize this teaching methodology it is necessary planning and knowledge of its uses’ possibilities, hence the importance of disseminating the results of the research. Among them, the interactivity and immersion features of the projects presented by the students motivate and help them to acquire knowledge, and also stimulate reading and analysis skills and peer interaction, developing the interest in themes that can, apparently, be little attractive in other types of media.

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> This article raises a few discussion topics concerning the cartographical learning for children and young adults as well as the training of Geography teachers in Brazil. It's necessary to clarify that one can't assing to teachers the full responsibility for the problems that the school and the cartography teaching are facing. We agree with Souza and Katuta (2001), who affirm there is a relevant and complex group of political, social and economic elements that can help explaining the educational situation Brazil is facing, especially in public schools. However, these elements end up being concealed along the education process. Therefore, we will present only the part of the scenario that includes the practices of Geography teachers, since they are responsible for forming the future generation of map-readers and producers. When dealing with the subject of teaching the teachers, we researched the literature that covers the teaching of Geography and Cartography at school and we applied it to national scope and to our own experience as teachers and researchers.</p>

A inclusão social é uma tendência mundial, cujo inicio remonta as décadas de 60 e 70 do século XX, e tem como base um novo paradigma de sociedade que começa a se construir, contrapondo-se ao modelo ariano, hegemônico, cartesiano e positivista até então vigente. Há três décadas se vem ensaiando a inclusão escolar no Brasil. Nesta pesquisa o foco foi as pessoas com deficiência visual. São cerca de 35 milhões de brasileiros (IBGE, 2010) que possuem alguma dificuldade de funcionamento da visão. O eixo em que foi focada esta pesquisa se encontra na interdisciplinaridade da Geografia com a Cartografia, trata-se de coordenadas geográficas. Como representar um conteúdo abstrato para um indivíduo com deficiência visual? Dentro da perspectiva da Cartografia Tátil, a produção de um globo terrestre adaptado para este público, a princípio, foi a alternativa encontrada. Porém, através de pesquisa bibliográfica e da avaliação de 90 estudantes, 30 com deficiência e 60 sem deficiência a utilização deste na sala de aula comum confirmou que a Cartografia Tátil não deve ficar confinada as instituições especializadas, mas sim fazer parte do cotidiano escolar.