O Teorema de Pitágoras

Abstract

This paper focusses on the teaching-learning of the Pythagoras s Theorem through an approach that aims to emphasize, initially, the necessary and sufficient character of the Theorem to get, subsequently, to the form of the Pythagorean equality. The historical and epistemological study led, at a second moment, to a more refined analysis of the mathematical object in question. After examining how the textbooks deal with a part of the didactic transposition of the Theorem, these approaches were confronted with the curricular proposals, especially the National Curricular Parameters (PCNs). The second phase of the paper consists in the elaboration and application of a didactic sequence, having eighth-grade students as a target audience. The sequence referred to is composed of two parts: the first one concerning the approach of the Theorem and the second, the applications of the latter on problems. This experimentation made it possible to establish the advantage of the approach adopted over the one commonly found in textbooks