Madison Math Circle
What is a Math Circle?
The Madison Math Circle is a weekly series of mathematically based activities aimed at interested middle school and high school students. It is an outreach program organized by the UW Math Department. Our goal is to provide a taste of exciting ideas in math and science. In the past we've had talks about plasma and weather in outer space, video game graphics, and encryption. In the sessions, students (and parents) are often asked to explore problems on their own, with the presenter facilitating a discussion.
The level of the audience varies quite widely, including a mix of middle school and high school students, and the speakers generally address this by considering subjects that will be interesting for a wide range of students.
After each talk we'll have pizza provided by the Mathematics Department, and students will have an opportunity to mingle and chat with the speaker and with other participants, to ask questions about some of the topics that have been discussed, and also about college, careers in science, etc.
The Madison Math circle was featured in Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/school-spotlight-madison-math-circle-gives-young-students-a-taste/article_77f5c042-0b3d-11e1-ba5f-001cc4c03286.html
Alright, I want to come!
Great!
Sign up for our email list: https://lists.math.wisc.edu/listinfo/math-circle
If you are a student, we hope you will tell other interested students about these talks, and speak with your parents or with your teacher about organizing a car pool to the UW campus (and tell us how many people are coming so we can purchase the appropriate amount of pizza!)
If you are a parent or a teacher, we hope you'll tell your students about these talks and organize a car pool to the UW (all talks take place in Ingraham Hall room 120, on the UW-Madison campus).
Parking. Parking on campus is rather limited. Here is as list of some options:
- Directly in front of Ingraham hall, 2 metered spots (25 minute max) in Lot 11 off of Observatory Drive.
- A 0.2 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, many spots (free starting 4:30pm) in Lot 26 along Observatory Drive.
- A 0.3 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, many spots (free starting 4:30pm) in Lot 34.
- A 0.2 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions, 2 metered spots (25 minute max) in front of Lathrop Hall.
- A 0.3 mile walk to Ingraham Hall via these directions 6 metered spots (25 minute max) around the loop in front of Chadbourne Hall .
- For more information, see the UW-Madison Parking Info website.
Questions?
If you have any questions, suggestions for topics, or so on, just email the organizers (Lalit Jain, Dan Erman, Gheorghe Craciun, and Philip Matchett Wood): math-circle-organizers@math.wisc.edu.
Math Circle Meetings for Spring 2014
All talks are at 6pm in Ingraham Hall room 120, unless otherwise noted.
| Date and RSVP links | Speaker | Topic | Link for more info |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 27, 2014 | Cancelled for weather | ||
| February 3, 2014 | Daniel Ross | Encryption | |
| February 10, 2014 | Betsy Stovall | Geometric addition | |
| February 17, 2014 | Mimansa Vahia | Origami and Mathematics | Origami video |
| February 24, 2014 | Jon Kane | Rows of Roses | |
| March 3, 2014 | Matthew Johnston | Surprising results in games of chance | |
| March 10, 2014 | Jordan Ellenberg | Why the card game Set should actually be called Line, and other comments on finite geometry | Set |
| March 17, 2014 | NO MEETING | UW Spring Break | |
| March 24, 2014 | Reese Johnston | The Mathematics of Lying | |
| March 31, 2014 | Reese Johnston | The Mathematics of Lying, part 2 | |
| April 7, 2014 | Shamgar Gurevich | Symmetries of Platonic Solids | Platonic solids |
| April 14, 2014 | NO MEETING | MMSD Spring Break | |
| April 21, 2014 | Chris Janjigian | Pirates and prisoners: an introduction to game theory (with candy!) |
Abstracts
Betsy Stovall
Geometric Addition
Abstract: We will learn some neat geometric tricks for quickly and painlessly computing some surprisingly large sums.
Jon Kane
Rows of Roses
Abstract: Let’s talk about the sine and cosine functions. One does not need to use very much information about these commonly seen functions in order to understand a large number of curves which can be drawn by graphing sine and cosine in Cartesian and polar coordinates. We will see sine curves, sums of sine curves, Lissajous figures, cycloids, hypocycloids, epicyclodes, and, of course, many rows of roses.