Potentialities of the History of Mathematics in the study of 1st Degree Equations

Abstract

This article is the result of a Course Completion Work for the Mathematics course at Universidade de Passo Fundo-RS and it discusses the trend in Mathematics Education: History of Mathematics and its associations with the content about 1st Degree Equations. From this perspective, it aims to discuss the potential of using this trend in the teaching of Algebra, specifically 1st degree Equations, in Elementary School. Afterwards, it presents a research result carried out by one of the authors, during his supervised internship, in an 8th grade elementary school class. Specifically about 1st degree Equations, it was worked with the use of historical problems as an option of didactical resource to combine the content to be developed – Equations – and the HM. Theoretical support is found in authors such as Iran Abreu Mendes, Antonio Miguel, William Berlinghoff and Fernando Gouvêa. At the end of the developed proposal, it was possible to conclude that HM is a resource of great value for the studies of mathematical contents, in case of Algebra and 1st Degree Equations, as it presented to the students a vision about Mathematics from another aspect and with indicatives of aid in the learning process of the content.