Sesión 10

A cargo de Mariana y Santi.

Eje: capítulo "Exhultation" de Lockhart

"In this way, being a mathematician is a lot like being a field biologist. Imagine that you have set up your camp on the outskirts of a tropical jungle, let’s say in Costa Rica. Every morning you take your machete into the jungle and explore and make observations, and every day you fall more in love with the richness and splendor of the place. Suppose you are interested in a particular type of animal, say hamsters. (Let’s not worry about whether there actually are any hamsters in Costa Rica.) The thing about hamsters is they have behavior. They do cool, interesting things: they dig, they mate, they run around and make nests in hollow logs. Maybe you’ve studied a particular group of Costa Rican hamsters enough that you’ve tagged them and given them names. Maybe Rosie is black and white and loves to burrow; maybe Sam is brown and enjoys lying in the sun. The point is that you are watching, noticing, and getting curious. Why do some hamsters behave differently from others? What features are common to all hamsters? Can hamsters be classified and grouped in meaningful and interesting ways? How do new hamsters get created from old ones, and what traits are inherited? In short, you’ve got hamster problems—natural, engaging questions about hamsters that you want answered.Well, I’ve got problems too. Only they are not located in Costa Rica, and they don’t concern hamsters. But the feeling is the same. There’s a jungle full of strange creatures with interesting behaviors, and I want to understand them. For example, among my favorite denizens of the mathematical jungle are these fantastical beasts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . ."

A partir de este párrafo, introdujimos la idea de "bosque" como una situación que despierta la curiosidad de mirar qué hay dentro. Y entendimos al docente como una especie de "guía turístico" de tal bosque, que lo conoce muy de cerca, que sabe los sitios más peligrosos, los senderos que le resultarán más fáciles a una persona con dificultad en el caminar, los lugares donde hay bichitos más curiosos, etc. 

Llevamos el juego "Escondidos" y el juego "Tach" como propuestas "bosques", disparadoras de mirar un poco qué hay ahí dentro. Elegimos esos "bosques" porque eran a priori desconocidos para los participantes y eso podía ayudar a entrar con inocencia y curiosidad, como queremos que entre un estudiante a una propuesta que le hacemos.