Plane Geometry: From the Floor Plan of a House to the Quantity of Bricks

• Main Authors: Cassiano Scott Puhl, Isolda Gianni de Lima
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de Caxias do Sul 2014-12-01
• Series: Scientia cum Industria
• Subjects: Floor plan; Active learning; Meaningful learning
• Online Access: http://www.ucs.br/etc/revistas/index.php/scientiacumindustria/article/view/3159/pdf_315

This work reports the application of a potentially meaningful teaching strategy for plane geometry which was applied in high school as an activity of identifying and reconstructing students’ previous knowledge on spatial geometry. The proposal aims to promote the meaningful learning, encourage students as active and more autonomous subjects and show the importance of studying this content. The study began with reading a story about the fire of Kiss Nightclub, where overcrowding was cited as one of the causes. To understand the mathematical sense of overcrowding, the students built the 1 m² and simulated the situation of the club on the night of the tragedy. Further, taking advantage of the interest and involvement of students, they were challenged to build the floor plan of a house. For this, chosen and measured bricks and ceramic would use in building the house. Finally, in joint work, all critically analyzed the work of the groups, plans and models, making a comparison between the various projects. The evaluation of this experience was very positive, because the students were motivated, learning together, and realizing the significance and meaning of the study of areas of plane figures.