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Science educators are increasingly using a historical approach to pedagogy as a way to enable students to understand the process of the construction of science in a more contextualized manner. Considering the meaning of context in a broader sense, this article has two objectives. First, it aims to explore how physics lessons using a Cultural History of Science approach allowed the development of activities that encouraged students to have discussions about science where their own socio-cultural context was considered, referring to Brazilian scientific production. Second, the article to investigate which understandings about scientific practices could be developed by students from in-class discussions inspired by the Cultural History of Science approach focusing on a historical and students’ own social contexts. The historical episode selected to be introduced in their physics lessons was the development of the Leiden jar in Europe, in the eighteenth century, focusing on the quotidian practices and habits that enabled the construction and use of this artifact. The lessons developed from the Cultural History approach seemed to allow the students to understand that science was developed by many different social actors, in sites that exceed the laboratory and by actions performed in various dimensions. The findings suggest that this approach in science teaching can be a strategy to historically contextualize the development of science while allowing students to reflect about the scientific production in their social context.

Resumo Neste artigo, discutiremos o panorama, que permeia a construção da primeira bateria elétrica, conhecida como a pilha de Volta. A partir de uma visão pautada na vertente historiográfica da História Cultural da Ciência, construímos uma narrativa histórica nos apoiando em fontes primárias e secundárias. Buscamos ressaltar, no século XVIII e início do século XIX, a controvérsia acerca da natureza do fluido animal, a utilização da eletricidade com finalidades medicinais e os aparatos elétricos que emergem nesse período, destacando que a teoria e a prática científica tecem um diálogo complexo de saberes. Salientamos questões inerentes ao contexto sociocultural e às práticas extra-laboratoriais indispensáveis para a construção e estabelecimento do conhecimento científico, tais como os caminhos de difusão e popularização do conhecimento no referido contexto. Ao final, discutimos como o episódio que envolve a construção da pilha de Volta fomenta discussões relevantes sobre a complexidade da construção do conhecimento científico que se mostram de grande potencial para o trabalho em aulas de ciências e em aulas de Física, em especial. Abstract In this paper, the panorama that underpin the construction of the first electric battery, known as the Voltaic pile, will be presented. For this purpose, an historical narrative was constructed from primary and secondary sources, and was inspired by the historiographical strand called Cultural History of Science. Taking the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, we sought to highlight the controversial aspects over the nature of animal fluid, the use of electricity for medicinal purposes and the electrical apparatus that emerged during this period, emphasizing that scientific theory and scientific practices weaves a complex relationship about the construction of knowledge. Thus, we seek show how socio-cultural context and the extra-laboratory practices were indispensable for the construction and establishment of scientific knowledge, such as the ways of spreading and popularizing knowledge in that context. Finally, we present some thoughts upon how the episode involving the construction of the Voltaic pile fosters relevant discussions about the complexity of the construction of scientific knowledge that shows great potential for work in science classes and, more especificaly, in physics classes.