Interdisciplinarity between Mathematics and Physics in a Teaching Degree to measure the Sun’s altitude

Abstract In education, the possibility of working on different subjects in an interdisciplinary way has been increasingly appreciated by teachers and educators. This study, which follows in this direction, has as its starting point discussions with students of the Mathematics Teaching Degree who emerged from the use of the new instrument to find the altitude of Sun and mobilized concepts from physics. In view of this fact, the objective is to discuss the use of this instrument as a possibility for interdisciplinarity between the teaching of Mathematics and Physics in the Teaching Degree. Therefore, the study is developed based on a qualitative research approach focusing on the interpretive characteristics that it can assume. From what can be seen the potential of the aforementioned instrument lies in the fact that the use of the apparatus mobilizes concepts of mathematics and physics, in such a way that students can understand how the concepts in these areas are related. This fact, added to the practical context in which the instrument is inserted, opens the possibility of cooperative work in the training of teachers, considering elements related to the construction of interdisciplinary scientific knowledge, the unfolding of interdisciplinary knowledge and the teaching experience. Thus, it is concluded that it is feasible to think about interdisciplinary work proposals between mathematics and physics based on the use of the instrument. An interaction in this sense can, in addition to favoring the overcoming of the idea of fragmentation of knowledge, also contribute to the construction of interdisciplinary knowledge.