From Meme to Chess Legend

Mathematical Modeling in Exponential Growth Situations

Abstract

This experience report describes the development of a workshop involving situations of exponential growth, conducted with students from the 3rd year of the Digital Games Technical Course integrated with High School at Colégio Estadual de Paranavaí, within the context of the Supervised Internship of the Mathematics Degree Program at the State University of Paraná – Paranavaí Campus. Grounded in Mathematical Modeling as a pedagogical approach, the workshop employed a sequence composed of three investigative tasks, structured around real-world problem situations: a financial choice, the legend of the invention of chess, and the viral spread of a meme. The general objective was to enable the understanding of exponential and logarithmic function concepts through the modeling of situations, using investigative strategies and multiple representations. The workshop followed the stages of invitation, group work, socialization, and formalization. As a result, continuous student engagement was observed, with active participation in the construction of mathematical concepts, stemming from their own hypotheses and discussions. The experience proved to be positive both for the students, who were able to learn meaningfully, and for the future teachers, who experienced firsthand the formative potential of an investigative pedagogical approach.