Entre o saber do rio e da floresta: um olhar etnomatemático sobre as práticas de medição e cálculo em serrarias de Afuá - Pará.

Abstract

The research investigated the mathematical knowledge present in the everyday practices of workers from two riverside sawmills, in the municipality of Afuá, Pará, aiming to understand how such knowledge is constructed, applied and transmitted within the Amazonian cultural context. Grounded in the perspective of Ethnomathematics, the study adopted a qualitative and exploratory approach, with data collected through semi-structured interviews, direct observations and photographic records of the working environment. The analysis revealed that workers mobilize diverse mathematical reasoning, even if not formally taught in school, involving measurements, volume calculations, unit conversions, classifications and the organization of wood for commercialization and export. The results showed that instruments such as measuring tapes, calipers, gauges and romaneios, as well as measurement units such as meters, feet and inches, are used precisely and contextually, demonstrating a practical, empirical and efficient form of mathematics. It also became evident that mathematical knowledge is constructed from relationships with the river and the forest and transmitted intergenerationally through oral tradition, observation, practice, and coexistence, configuring a pedagogy specific to the riverside way of life. The study concludes that the mathematical knowledge observed in Afuá’s sawmills are legitimate expressions of knowledge aligned with the dimensions of knowing how to act, knowing how to do and knowing how to think, reinforcing the relevance of a decolonial Ethnomathematics that values plural ways of producing knowledge. The research contributes not only to the scientific understanding of these processes but also highlights the pedagogical potential of such knowledge for mathematics teaching, bringing school practices closer to the realities of riverside students.