This work aimed to identify the intentions of teaching and, furthermore, analyze the interventions carried out by a teacher in the proposition of problem-questions in an inquiry-based activity concerning the importance of the leaves toplants and the environment to students of 7ºgrade, Elementary School. The methodological strategy consisted of the launching of problem-questions consistent with the teaching intention to each activity. The data analysis indicated that there was an upward progression in the levels of the problem-questions elaborated. Initiallyinformation was remembered and, in the end, the construction of answers was provided with better elaborated arguments, and presentation of justifications based on concepts rescued from previous moments. We emphasize the importance of planning a teaching situation, whose problem must be conceived, assumed and experienced in the daily practice of teaching as a process of articulated reflection on the problems and the reality of school education.