Área de figuras planas: uma proposta de ensino com modelagem matemática

Abstract

Geometry constitutes a central part in the Mathematics curriculum, since by means of it students get to develop the necessary skills to understand, describe and represent different shapes in their everyday lives. This work, characterized as a teacher's research, aims at verifying the contributions of a didactic sequence for the teaching of plane geometry, involving the process of finding the area of plane figures by means of composing and decomposing geometric shapes and modeling figural logos. To achieve such purpose, we have raised the students' previous knowledge on the subject, and afterwards we have produced, applied and analyzed a didactic sequence intending to determine the area of plane figures. Afterwards we have proposed and analysed a procedure for modeling figural logos. The propositions have been applied to senior high school students from a state-funded education center, and the analyses have been rooted on the Meaningful Learning of Procedures Theory, based on the registers of semiotic representation produced by students while performing the activities proposed. We have concluded that it is possible to deal not only with concepts, but also with procedures when complying with the conditions of meaningful learning, and that the modeling of figural logos can be developed in class since it answers to specific aspects such as: organization of the teacher; availability of computers for students; previous experience of the teacher with this sort of modeling. The porposed activities can contribute for both teachers and students to make up, deal with and convert the registers of semiotic representation related to the calculus of area, thus favoring the development of sequential, perceptive, discoursive and operative apprehensions.