Resumo

HOUDEMENT, Catherine. Experimentation and proof: two dimensions of mathematics from primary school. Paradìgma [online]. 2008, vol.29, n.2, pp.173-185. ISSN 1011-2251.

It seems usual to give a great importance to rigor and search for truth in mathematics, to conceive the mathematical school activity as a succession of exercises and applications of techniques (algorithms, theorems)This vision of mathematics could be incomplete and hides other aspects as imagination and research required by mathematical activity. How can we integrate these aspects in teaching? Supported by French investigations of mathematic didactics (Brousseau 1998, Douady 1993, Chevallard 1992), this report intended to show how a dialectic between experimentation and proof can help to build learning, particularly in primary school.

Palavras-chave : Experimentation; Proof; Primary school; Didactics of mathematics; Didactical situation.