Laboratory Activities to Develop the Geometric Reasoning

Abstract

A set of activities designed to foster geometric thought of students in the 2nd grade of junior High School (8th grade of elementary school in Brazil) is presented here. The activities were proposed to students of a public school. The learning was supported by teaching resources as Tangram, Geoboard and Bending. The activities, interdisciplinary, realistic and playful, were carried out in the Laboratory for the Teaching of Mathematics. The activities were performed in groups organized in such a way to enhance the interaction between students of different levels of knowledge. A test to check the van Hiele level of students was applied before and afterwards. The evaluations of the results of the tests reveal advances in the van Hiele level. The proposal applied to an experimental group provided an environment conducive to meaningful learning. It must be pointed that it also increased students confidence and stimulated them to develop continuity for the acquisition of new knowledge.