BARD MATH CIRCLE

Bard Math Circle at Kingston Library – more highlights

—

by

Bard Math Circle
in

We had our first math circle of the year yesterday at the Kingston Library. This circle meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month, so:

Second Saturdays, 1-3pm at the Kingston Library, 55 Franklin Street, Kingston NY 12401
2011: September 10, October 8, November 12, December 17
2012: January 14, February 11, March 10, April 14, May 12

Here are some of the mathematical highlights:

Area Puzzles

The problem sheet this month had dissection problems. Goal: cut each shape into pieces and rearrange them into a square. How few pieces can you use?

Dragon Illusion

The hands-on math take-away was a dragon illusion. Here’s a video that I made of the one I assembled:

//www.youtube.com/get_player
As you can see, the dragon’s head appears to follow you as you move from side-to-side. This illusion was designed by Jerry Andrus, and you can download your copy here: http://www.g4g-com.org/storage/Dragon-Illusion-GG2010.pdf. If you’re interested in a mathematical adventure, find out who Jerry Andrus is, and what is “GG2010”, which is short for Gathering for Gardner 2010!

The Game of 21-Nim

Jeannette taught us all how to play a game called 21-Nim. This is a game for two players, played with a pile of 21 counters. On your move you can remove 1, 2 or 3 counters, and whoever takes the last counter wins. After explaining the rules, Jeannette gave everyone a chance to play, and finished by analyzing strategies.

We’ll be playing 21-Nim at several of our circles this month, so come out and play!

 

Japheth Wood

I’m Japheth Wood (he/him), the Bard Math CAMP co-director, and a math professor at Bard College. CAMP (which is an acronym for Creative and Analytical Math Program) is a very special week of the year for our young math community. It's inspiring to see our students return year after year. This is our 11th summer of CAMP! We're back once again on the idyllic Bard College campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, and thankful to the CAMP students, parents, and staff, for making this mathemagical week happen. Notably, we've (finally) had our first CAMP reunion this past June, an event that I know will grow to be an integral part of what we do.

This will close in 20 seconds

Frances Stern

My name is Frances Stern (she/her/hers)! I’ve been teaching math at CAMP since the first year, making sure our math theme has a connection to art and computer. It’s fun to show students math that they don’t see in school. I've retired from daily teaching but continue to teach for the New York Math Circle & students who are seeking more math in their lives. My hobbies include learning to draw, paint, & juggle, reading, walking & folk dancing. I’ve written 2 books for teachers and parents called “Adding Math, Subtracting Tension” (for different age-ranges of children). They pay as much attention to how to keep out of a fight (what many parents told me is a problem) as they do to math.

This will close in 20 seconds