The textbook has long been the subject of debate and investigation, from which many criticisms originate. Criticism for inducing or reinforcing prejudices and racial and social stereotypes; criticism for proposing activities that encourage more information gathering and memorization, to the detriment of developing skills such as reflection, analysis and synthesis, curiosity, creativity; among others. Despite all this criticism, we cannot ignore the role that this tool plays for the majority of teachers and students in our country. So we think it’s important, especially for teachers in the Minas Gerais state public school system, to check whether the five chemistry collections approved by PNLEM 2012 meet the guidelines set out by the CBC (Common Basic Contents), both in terms of content distribution and the methodology used to deal with it.