ELABORATION OF A POTENTIALLY MEANINGFUL MATERIAL: A HISTORICAL APPROACH TO THE TEACHING OF SQUARE ROOT

Abstract

This study, which proposes the elaboration of pedagogical material on the square root teaching to be experienced in the early years of elementary school, corresponds to an excerpt from a research carried out in the Master of Education at the University of Pernambuco. The History of Mathematics and Theory of Meaningful Learning, respectively, were adopted as epistemological and pedagogical contributions. The investigative path converged to the action research approach and in the scope of its phases, the previous knowledge of four teachers on Fundamental Operations (OF) was analyzed. It was observed little domain over mathematical goals and the meanings inherent in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division proposed over twenty years ago by the National Curriculum Parameters. Intending to contribute to the change in practice of these teachers regarding square root teaching, it was invested in the notion of a perfect square and in the Babylonian method to calculate the square root when there is not a perfect square, aiming that the material produced can be qualified as potentially significant.