A Metáfora da balança na introdução do tema equação do 1° grau: um estudo em livros didáticos do 7° ano

Abstract

The present work aims to investigate whether the metaphor of the balance is an introductory topic to the study of the 1st degree equation and how it is approached in textbooks of the 7th year. Considering that this study has a qualitative character with an interpretive approach, three didactic works were chosen only for the 7th year approved in the PNLD 2020, they are: “The Conquest of Mathematics” by the authors José Ruy Giovanni Junior and Benedito Castruci, “Teláris” by Luiz Roberto Dante and “Trilha da Matemática” by the author Fausto Arnaud Sampaio. The mathematical content equation of the 1st degree is one of the primordial subjects in this phase of basic education, as it is through it that the student has one of the first contacts with elements of algebra, that is, the letters will represent, from now on, unknown numbers. In our analysis, it is noticed that the method is in fact used in the three books analyzed and yes, the metaphor of the balance is a great choice for the initial understanding of the notion of equation of the 1st degree, as the idea of balance helps in the understanding of the equivalence of both members of an equation.