Meaning construction through semiotic means: the case of the visual pyramid

This paper presents some elements of our study on the construction of mathematical meanings in terms of development of semiotic systems (gestures, speech in oral and written form, drawings) in a Vygotskian framework with reference to cultural artefacts (Wartofsky). It concerns with a teaching experiment on perspective drawing at primary school (4th-5th grade classes). We analyse the appropriation of an element of the mathematical model of perspective drawing (visual pyramid) through the development of gestures, speech and drawings, starting from a concrete experience with a Dürer’s glass to the interpretation of a new artefact as a concrete model of that mathematical object.