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Maths in Action Trip
Isabella in Roddick 1 sent this report:
Tuesday, 26 November was a highly influential and inspiring day for me and many other students at Invicta. It was dedicated to lectures and puzzles that were executed by fellow mathematicians throughout the course of the day. ‘Maths in Action’ started with the colour-shifting flexagon which instantly gripped and confused the audience.
Afterwards, we were ready to see what the lectures had in store, with the first one presented by the famous Simon Singh. He taught us about Fermat’s last theorem and how important proving impossibilities is within Maths. This gave me insight into how to approach ‘proof’ questions in the A Level exams. I now know how to approach proof questions by keeping a logical and systematical solution. This kind of solution is seen in Fermat’s final proof. This is the question that Professor Andrew Wiles spent 7 years of his life dedicated to and has since been greatly respected and congratulated by many across the globe.
The lectures also gave insight into good study tips and Maths websites, which should support students in their revision at home as well as in school. These include Numberphile and Solomon past papers which give good examples of questions, which could come up in your exams. To further excel, students may find it useful to practice these questions and try many different variations of questions to prepare for upcoming tests. The one website that stood out the most to me was Doctor Frost Maths as the owner Jamie Frost actually led a lecture on this day. He developed my wider knowledge of how to approach and prepare for exams while still giving an entertaining and eye-catching presentation. Frost’s website is engaging and makes revision more exiting so I would recommend for others to use it if they need support with specific topics.
David Acheson took a somewhat different approach, inviting volunteers to help with live experiments and relating mathematics to everyday life. I was fascinated to learn about Euclid and Euler as well as many other important figures in the history of Maths, which closely related to geometric shapes and how they interact. To finish his lecture, Acheson played an incredibly intricate song on his guitar, which emphasised the use of Maths in music.
The last lecture was about ‘Maths in a Spacesuit’, which was equally as interesting as ‘Magic Maths’. The magic was astounding and made everyone deliberate but the role of Maths in astronomy was more shocking as we all witnessed footage and images in space. These were photos of which we had never seen the like before. To top it off Jackie Bell shared her thoughts on University and why we should chose the diplomas most of us will likely face in the future.
Overall, I thought it was a very well structured and informative outing while still holding an amusing and enjoyable mood. Finally, there were a series of Maths challenges that we each got to have a go at which brought all of the students together while prizes were awarded to those who got all the questions correct. This is definitely another reason why you should go on the trip if it is available again in the future. I would highly suggest any of the Education Talks as they are fun and well planned by Mr Rzepka and will be a great addition to wider reading into your subjects which will help you excel on University applications or your CV.
