The article intends to show the results of research whose objective was to analyse the performance of students from High School in the identification of examples and non-examples of polygons and polyhedrons, intending to define the attributes and irrelevant attributes. In the research 253 students participated distributed into three series from High School in public school who answered a test of examples and non-examples. Later, six students were selected to be interviewed about their knowledge of examples and non-examples. The results showed that the participants had low average (M = 5,59) in the homework which demanded the identification of examples and non-examples of polygons and polyhedrons. The analysis of the interviews showed that the most students considered that the irrelevant attribute of polygons analyzed did not interfere in the response. However, it is evident, in general, that these students presented a conceptual knowledge far from the expected for level of education.
Geometry; Geometry concept; Polygons and polyhedrons; Examples and non-examples
