Saturday Morning Math Enrichment

MathCEP is currently offering Saturday Enrichment classes for students in grades 5-7. Each program encourages participants to explore mathematics and its scientific applications from different perspectives based on specific mathematics themes.

Scholarships are readily available in cases of financial need.  Please contact our office if the cost of the programs would prevent your child from participating.

Saturday Morning Math for 5th and 6th Graders

Events

Spherical Journeys
November 5th 2022, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Discover a new geometry that holds many surprises as you investigate journeys around the world. Examine how light, shapes and space influence mapmaking and orienteering. Shatter many assumptions of the Euclidean geometry that you have studied in school.

Mathematical Games
December 10th 2022, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Sharpen your wits and get ready to strategize! Discover the mathematics behind dots-and-boxes and other games as you play.  Learn strategies for helping you or your group win at games.

Geometric Counting
January 28th 2023, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Learn how geometric objects can lead to number patterns.  Explore perfect, square, and triangular numbers, and investigate their connections to other real-world problems.

Tessellating Patterns
February 25th 2023, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Examine tessellations and create your own tiling pattern.  Learn about the symmetry of polygons and how these patterns are linked to nature, art and science.

Saturday Morning Math for 6th and 7th Graders

Events

Origami
November 5th 2022, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Visualize geometric concepts by creating geometric shapes using origami-folding sequences. Challenge your problem-solving skills by connecting basic geometric shapes to create as many different polyhedra models as possible.

Fractals
December 10th 2022 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Learn about the mathematics behind beautiful patterns which model natural shapes. Play the Chaos Game, draw fractal trees, and investigate patterns using colors, numbers, and geometry. Finish by building the Sierpinski Tetrahedron, a 3-dimensional fractal.

Directions in Space
January 28th 2023 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Vectors give us a way to do arithmetic in higher dimensions. Play games such as Vector Golf as you learn about the properties of vectors and how they model real world situations such as wind or motion.

Topology & Knot Theory
February 25th 2023, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Explore a world where squares, circles, and triangles are all the same shape; where stretching and twisting do not change their mathematical nature. Determine if a closed loop is knotted or not & attempt to construct types of knots. Use the mathematics of knots and knot theory to untie your preconceptions about ‘inside,’ ‘outside,’ & ‘boundaries.’

 

Workshop Logistics

  • Program workshops are held on specific Saturday mornings in Folwell Hall on the University's Minneapolis campus (East Bank).
  • About a week prior to each event, students will receive a reminder e-mail with further information.
  • Check-in for each workshop is from 9:15 to 9:30 a.m. in front of Folwell Hall (the South East corner of Pleasant St SE and University Ave). A typical workshop schedule includes an introduction and overview from 9:30 to 9:45 a.m., activities from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., a short social break, continued activities from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m., and closure, cleanup, and evaluation until dismissal at noon. The student/instructor ratio at workshops is approximately 10:1.
  • Cost: $150 for the series of four events.  After the first event in November, we'll re-open registration for the remaining three events for a cost of $120.

Family Agreement

By completing the Registration Form, student and parent(s) are confirming that they reviewed and discussed the following points.

Per University policy, students, faculty, staff, and visitors, are required to wear a well-fitted mask indoors, regardless of your vaccination status. 

Students...

  1. Must be prepared to have fun while learning mathematics!
  2. Must behave responsibly -- walk between classes, stay with your group, use a quiet voice while in class and on break, clean up after yourself, and respect the property of other participants, staff and the University.
  3. Must be respectful in words and actions to other students, teaching assistants and teachers. Students will respond respectfully to the authority of the teacher and teaching assistants. Instructors will not tolerate disruptive or disorderly behaviors that interfere with classroom instruction.
  4. Must follow instructions from enrichment leaders and event staff.

Parents...

  1. Must punctually drop-off and pick-up students.
  2. Understand that only a student registered for a program may attend that program's workshops.
  3. Understand that students with the following symptoms may NOT attend a MathCEP workshop: a fever over 100 degrees; coughing; a contagious skin rash; vomiting.
  4. Understand that participants who fail to respect or follow the above policies are subject to dismissal from MathCEP programs.
  5. Must agree that MathCEP has the right to take photos for the purpose of promotional materials.
  6. Understand there is a $20 administrative fee for refunds processed before the program begins and there are no refunds once the program begins.

 

 

The five platonic solids, assembled using plastic tiles called polydrons
Photo credit
Shelley Kandola