SCHOOL CARTOGRAPHY: A TOOL FOR TEACHING MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
School Cartography; Mathematics Teaching; Interdisciplinarity.
This work presents an interdisciplinary pedagogical proposal developed with elementary school classes at a public school in the municipality of Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso. The objective of the research was to use elements of cartography as an integrative language for mathematics, geography, and history, in order to foster the development of mathematical skills associated with scale, proportion, coordinates, area, and measurements within the context of the students' lived space. To this end, a qualitative, applied, action-research approach was adopted, with the development, implementation, and validation of a teaching booklet composed of practical, contextualized activities. The pedagogical activities included the construction of floor plans, scale models, navigation using geographic coordinates with GPS, area estimation using photomaps, and scavenger hunts with ordered pairs on the Cartesian plane, supported by digital resources such as Google Earth and mobile devices. The results demonstrated significant student engagement, improved understanding of mathematical concepts, and strengthened student empowerment, in addition to the appreciation of the school environment as a learning environment. Thus, the booklet was positively validated by participating teachers, who highlighted its applicability and innovative potential. The conclusion is that the integration of Cartography and Mathematics, mediated by digital technologies and active strategies, contributes to more meaningful, interdisciplinary, and situated learning. Therefore, the study reaffirms the importance of pedagogical practices that connect school knowledge to local realities and the development of 21st-century skills.