Math

Carnival Games

Step right up and discover which carnival games are scams and which are worth your money. Flip some coins, pick some ducks, pop virtual balloons, and learn the math of it all! We will be introducing probability and conditional probability in the framework of various carnival games, including an activity at the end for students to create their own version of a game!

Math

Cow Evolution

Math is everywhere - especially in video games! We’ll take a look at how to make predictions and strategic choices in a super simple phone game called Cow Evolution. Students will see how to simplify a complex system to a solvable problem, and understand how to transfer the ideas to the video games they know and love.

Math

Games with a 100% Win Strategy

This workshop will improve students’ number sense, or understanding of numbers and their manipulations. Number sense is a critical skill necessary for students in future advanced math topics. We will develop students’ number sense through a series of “games” that have winning strategies. Students will learn that seemingly fair games have significant advantages to one player over another if they think through the game well.

Engineering (Español and English Slides)

Paper Prototyping

In this lesson, students will learn basic paper craft skills and use those skills in hands-on activities that will introduce them to prototyping, iterating, and the design process. Students will do a prototype activity before being introduced to prototyping and design process concepts. Students will also develop and prototype their own solution to one of several different design prompts that will challenge them to think critically and creatively, applying these newly taught concepts.

Engineering (Español and English Slides)

Design Sketching

To be an entrepreneur, designer, or engineer, you need to get your ideas out onto the page! In this workshop you will learn sketching skills such as how to use multiple line weights, what is isometric view, how to draw motion, and more that will be useful at any level!

Math

The Math Behind Our Democracy

Who gets a say in democracy? Representation in the US is skewed based on where you live and who draws your district boundaries. In part one, you’ll make maps to visualize how changing the data impacts each state - and what that means for democracy. In part two, you’ll find a way to quantify gerrymandering based on both the shapes of districts and how much the outcome of an election differs from the actual votes cast.

Math

Beauty of Math: Math and Plants

In this workshop, we teach the golden ratio and fibonacci sequence through “being the sunflower.” Students will participate in an interactive website where they control how a sunflower grows its seeds in a spiral to maximize their closeness. From there, the workshop goes into what the golden ratio means, what makes it special, how you can make it with the fibonacci sequence, and how it can be visualized as the golden spiral.

Math

Beauty of Math: Math in Art and Architecture

Come learn about how math ties together our favorite pieces of art and architecture! We’ll dive into the mysteries of how artists, architects, and designers across time and place have used math in their works, and we’ll explore how we might use math to inform our creativity by making some art of our own.

This is the second workshop in the Math and Beauty series. Instructors are encouraged to run the first workshop (Math and Plants) before introducing this workshop to help students build foundational knowledge of the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence, but this workshop can also be delivered as a free-standing session.

Math

Beauty of Math: Line Art

In this workshop, students use art as a way to increase understanding of mathematical concepts. Students are first guided through activities that look at everyday objects and break them down into simple shapes. Then, students are introduced to a free online graphing program, Desmos, as a way to review graphing lines and circles. Finally, students use Desmos in an exploratory lesson aimed to increase relatedness around graphing circles and using inequalities. The exercise walks students through step-by-step equations to graph the face of a Bear, tying each equation back to a distinct part of the Bear, and it invites students to apply their own creative extensions, further solidifying their knowledge of circles and inequalities.