Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / To improve the quality of education in the first grades of primary school is essential to analyze the teaching practices and the possible influences on the teaching-learning processes. Among the cognitive functions related to these processes, this study reports the attention, which develops under genetic and environmental influences. In the search for resources that may be environmental positive influences in the attention development, there is the hypothesis that bodily activity may be an important tool. From a theoretical basis and an approximation to school reality, noting the relationship between bodily activities, education and health, this paper presents an analysis of the first grades teachers perceptions about the bodily activities proposed and the health subject in school. After the interviews, it was revealed that most teachers believe that develop bodily activities in the first grades is one of their assignments, although some of them do not feel prepared for this task. With regard to health education, the main difficulties perceived by the teachers are identified: the low status of family life, lack of family support, lack of professional training of teachers, the particular difficulties faced by students and the need to literacy the schoolchildren. Then it was aimed to investigate the influence of a bodily activity program in the attention of 2nd grade students. The results of this last study allow us to infer that a bodily activities program can bring benefits to the attention of 2nd grade students, especially in the context of alternating attention. It is concluded that the bodily activities may have a positive influence in the teaching-learning processes. . / Para melhorar a qualidade de ensino nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental, é imprescindível que as práticas docentes e as possíveis influências aos processos de ensino-aprendizagem sejam analisadas. Dentre as funções cognitivas relacionadas a estes processos, destaca-se, neste estudo, a atenção. Na busca por recursos que possam atuar como influências ambientais positivas no desenvolvimento da atenção, surge a hipótese de que as atividades corporais podem ser uma ferramenta importante. Partindo de uma fundamentação teórica e de uma aproximação à realidade escolar, observando as relações das atividades corporais com a educação e com a saúde, foi realizada uma análise das percepções de professoras dos anos iniciais sobre as atividades corporais propostas e o tema saúde na escola. Após a realização de entrevistas, foi possível perceber que a maioria das professoras acredita que trabalhar atividades corporais nos anos iniciais é uma de suas atribuições, embora algumas não se sintam preparadas para tal tarefa. Com relação à educação em saúde, são identificadas as principais dificuldades percebidas pelas professoras: a baixa condição de vida da família, a falta de apoio da família, a falta de capacitação profissional dos professores, as dificuldades particulares dos alunos e a necessidade de alfabetizá-los. Posteriormente, objetivou-se investigar a influência de um programa de atividades corporais na atenção de alunos do 2º ano do ensino fundamental. Os resultados deste último estudo permitem inferir que um programa de atividades corporais pode trazer benefícios para a atenção de escolares do 2º ano do ensino fundamental, principalmente no âmbito da atenção alternada. Conclui-se que as atividades corporais podem exercer uma influência positiva nos processos de ensino-aprendizagem.

Lead is a toxic heavy metal that has been extensively used in modern society, causing widespread environmental contamination, even in isolated parts of the world. There is now overwhelming evidence associating lead exposure with wideranging health effects, including reductions in intelligence scores, hyperactivity, shortened concentration spans, poor school performance, violent/aggressive behaviour, hearing loss, delayed onset of puberty, anaemia, and in severe cases, coma and death. In recent years consensus has been reached in respect of the absence of a threshold of safety for key health effects associated with lead exposure, and the permanent and irreversible nature of many of the health and social consequences of exposure to lead. The public health problem of environmental lead exposure has been widely investigated in developed countries such as the United States of America where, since the 1970s, policies and interventions have been followed by significant reductions in blood lead levels amongst children. In developing countries, and in African countries in particular, there is a relative dearth of information on the sources, mechanisms of exposure and blood lead distributions in children, and little action has been taken to protect children against lead poisoning. This study was undertaken to determine the current distribution of blood lead concentrations, and associated risk factors, amongst selected groups of first grade school children in the South African urban settings of Cape Town, Johannesburg 7 and Kimberley, a lead mining town (Aggeneys) and two rural towns in the Northern Cape province. A further objective of the study was to compare blood lead distributions determined in the current study with the findings of similar studies undertaken prior to the introduction in 1996 of unleaded petrol in South Africa. The results show that over the past decade, blood lead concentrations amongst first grade school children have declined considerably, but that large proportions of children, especially those living or attending school in impoverished areas, continue to have intolerably high blood lead concentrations, within a range that puts them at risk of detrimental health and social outcomes. The major sources of exposure to lead in the samples studied were leaded petrol, lead-based paint used to decorate homes and schools, lead solder used in “cottage industries” and other home-based lead-related activities, as well as the transfer of lead particles from lead-related work settings into homes. Recommendations for policy and relevant interventions for the South African context are discussed.

The thesis analyses film music and its use in Music lessons in the first grades of Primary school. The theoretical section focuses on characteristics, types and specifics of film music. It also briefly elaborates on the history of film music, both Czech and worldwide, and contains information about life and work of significant musical composers from this focus area. This section also analysis the approach to including film music in education for the first grades in Primary school, with respect to the curriculum framework and musical textbooks. Practical part consists of methodical material, in which film music is integrated into Music lessons in the first grade of Primary school. Methodical material is divided into chapters based on Primary school grades. KEYWORDS film, music, film music, music education, first grades of Primary school, methodology of music education