PAST events at Dal during the 2010/2011 school year

Here was our schedule for the 2010/2011 school year. Events were held from 5:30-7:30pm in the Chase Building, Room 119 (Student Learning Centre) of Dalhousie University, with pizza served at each event.

October 20, 2010 
Dr. Peter Selinger

Counting & Symmetries:

Many objects have a symmetry, for example, a mirror symmetry, or a rotation by 90 or 180 degrees. We will have a look at symmetries in 2 and 3 dimensions. We will also learn how to count objects up to symmetry. For example, how many ways are there, up to a rotation, to tile a 3x3 square with black and white tiles?

November 17, 2010
Dr. Richard Nowakowski

Before Pizza: Factoring numbers with pen and paper, part 1.

After Pizza: How to deal, mathematically, with things that we can never point to.

Question1: Imagine a circle of radius 200kms with centre at the clock on Citadel Hill, are there two points diametrically opposite on the circle with the same temperature?

Question 2: Angela starts up a hiking trail at 8am and reaches the top at 6pm. She stays at the top over night. She starts down at 8am the next day and reaches the bottom at 6pm. Is there one time during the day when she was at the same spot on the trail on both days.

There is one technique that solves all these problems. This technique is a major reason why calculus works. (No knowledge of calculus is required.)

December 15, 2010
Math and Art Show

Presenters: Dr. Dorette Pronk (Dal) & Dr. Eva Knoll (MSVU)

This will be an art show with a mathematical twist.

We will view pieces of art that were completely produced from mathematical equations and we will look at some of the mathematics involved in traditional art pieces. We will end with a game where you get a chance to connect the math and the art.

And, of course, there will be artfully decorated circular pizzas.

February 2, 2011
New year party

Presenters: Angela Siegel & Danielle Cox

After a long winter break, we welcome you back with a celebration of the new year of Math Circles.

Among other mathematical challenges, will will bring out the Zome and let you have your hand at producing some fantastic geometric shapes. We'll look beyond the third dimension and consider the hyperdodecahedron.

And, of course, there will be artfully decorated 3D pizzas.

March 2, 2011
Braids & permutations

Presenter: Andrew Hoefel

We will be learning all about about braids and permutations! Some activities we will do are the following: Factoring balls and cups; parity in play. Live demonstration of the non-commutation of socks and shoes. Cyclical processes and how you can get stuck in the game of life. Braiding your way through complex punctured spaces.

March 30, 2011
Statistics: Turning 5 dimensions into 2!

Presenter: Michele Millar (MSVU)

May 18, 2011
Graph colouring & Planarity:

Presenters: Danielle Cox & Rebecca Keeping

Get tangled up in planarity fun!

June 8, 2011
Angela Siegel

Wrap up the year with a trifecta of fun!

Outdoor warm-up activity (weather permitting): Geocaching and trigonometry

Indoors: Help us build a hyperdodecohedron and explore 1, 2, 3 and 4-dimensional spaces. Also, we will have laptops on hand for further fun with the Game of Life.

This will be the last event of the school year, so we will make sure to have some prizes and fun for those who attend! :)

May 16-20, 2011
2nd Annual Math Fun Days

Register soon by calling or emailing Theresa Myra at:
(902) 494-6448
theresa.myra@dal.ca

Topic Ideas?

If you have a request for topics, please contact us. If you have a topic or idea that appeals to you, let us help you explore it! Email us at mathcircles@dal.ca and we will work it into our repertoire.

We are looking forward to new faces as well as many of our usual suspects returning this fall!