variavel0=<b>Rubens Alves Dias</b> - rubdias@zipmail.com.br FEG/UNESP
<b>Cristiano Rodrigues Mattos</b> - crmattos@feg.unesp.br FEG/UNESP
<b>José Antônio Perrella Balestieri</b> - Perrella@feg.unesp.br FEG/UNESP
<b>Abstract.</b> In the last years, Brazilian engineering courses were submitted to many curricular reformulation for attending the determinations of the National Education Guide and Basis (LDB). With reference to the Thermal Sciences, the teaching of the necessary subjects must to be done by means of non-isolated topics and by showing the relationship of causes and effects relatively to the technology and its influence on the society. The development of transverse subjects like, for example, rational use of energy, municipal wastes and the environment can be the “vertebral column” of the program contents. Many concepts and information with these transverse subjects can be detected when verifying the capacity of human intervention in the nature and society, and hence they contribute to the citizenship. In this context, the domain of technical concepts do not suffice for getting satisfactory results in the engineering activities. The perception of the social condition of such defined question under analysis should represent the element that will determine the success or the failure in an intervention. This paper suggests one strategy for Thermal Science teaching that identifies and overcome the social barriers, that limits the teaching and learning process, using educational process for taking into account the contextualization and the development of transverse subjects.
<b>Keywords.</b> Energy, rational use of energy, teaching.