Conexão entre a Matemática e a Física: a interdisciplinaridade explicando o funcionamento de um arrefecedor caseiro, o Eco Cooler
Resumo
Mathematics, with its own refined language, has always played a central role in man's
understanding of the world around him. Therefore, Science, in particular Physics, uses it to
express its thinking, in a rational and logical way. Thus, the proposition of the present work is
to contextualize the study of graphs of zero-degree polynomial functions and one from the
physical analysis of the operation of a homemade cooler, the Eco Cooler (EC), in order to
awaken the interest in scientific research and thus enable a more attractive and productive
teaching in the formation of critical and creative citizens. The methodology was carried out in
the bibliographic survey for the development of an explanatory research, taking advantage of
the experimental method to identify, through the graphic language, the cause of the cooling
effect provoked by the EC. Language is related to the capacity of data organization in a
systematic, synthetic and efficient way to understand and interpret a phenomenon. The course
was developed in four consecutive stages: knowledge of the existing academic production,
preparation of the EC, collection of data in the laboratory with its graphic transcription and data
analysis as proposition of mathematical models. From the data collection and construction of
these models, it was possible to evaluate and predict the behavior of the physical quantities
involved in the process. Therefore, through the exploration of the concept of zero-degree and
one-degree polynomial functions, and using its graphical representation, it was concluded that
the cooling effect was not produced by a decrease in the internal temperature of the
environment. Therefore, presenting a mathematical content through contextualization is a
methodological proposal for teaching in a more meaningful way, always in search of ways to
reveal the role played by mathematics in science.