Maths Week Ireland, the annual festival of maths takes place this week offering a range of largely virtual / online events and is attracting huge participation by schools and people all over the island.
This year’s event is backed by Irish Ladies Hockey captain and Coleraine girl, Katie Mullan. A self- confessed ‘maths fan’ the subject forms a large part of her day job as a biomedical engineer.
Katie says, “I love maths and studied it to A Level and it was a large part of my mechanical engineering degree and my masters in biomedical engineering. I would encourage more people and especially girls to stick with maths and look at the many career opportunities it offers. Maths skills are a key part of running our everyday lives and are also a key driver of future skills and jobs – now more important than ever given the impact of the global pandemic.”
“I’m thrilled to be a Maths Week ambassador and urge pupils, teachers, parents and the public in general to check out the website, mathsweek.ie
and take part in the many activities online and the pop-up maths trails in Belfast’s Botanic Gardens and on the walls of Derry~Londonderry.”
Now in its 15th year, the 2020 celebration looks a little different with health restrictions meaning few physical events can take place. However, the fun and magic of maths week is being replicated in lots of virtual events across the week. These include an exciting online scavenger hunt for the whole family. Running throughout the course of the week is the new ‘MathsWeekTV’ targeted at primary and secondary school audiences with programmes hosted by a range of engaging and entertaining personalities.
MathsWeekTV presenters include Bobby Seagull, popular British TV presenter, and Maths teacher. Bobby is a regular contributor to Radio Four’s Puzzle for Today and a columnist for the Financial Times and co-presented a BBC TV series Monkman & Seagull’s Genius Guide to Britain.
Other presenters include highest selling maths author Kjartan Poskitt, who has sold over 5 million ‘Murderous Maths’ books, Ken Farquhar, one of Britain’s leading STEM presenters and Caroline Ainslie, who is a co-organiser of the Global STEAM Lesson who aims to teach the mathematical fundamentals of shape, space and measurement with the use of soap bubbles and giant balloons. Being online means Maths Week can bring YouTube star Tom Crawford from Oxford or “Mathematician at Large” James Tanton into schools across the island from his base in Arizona. There will also be many local presenters and fun activities for the schools and the home.
Maths Week Ireland has grown to be the biggest festival of its type in the world and is now replicated in Scotland and England. A fun, all-inclusive celebration, Maths Week promotes and develops a positive attitude towards maths in young people, and a wider awareness of the importance of maths across all sectors of society. Cross-community and cross-border participation is an important part of Maths Week.
Eoin Gill, co-founder of Maths Week Ireland, said, “This year we face challenges across the globe, and we could have cancelled Maths Week. However, with the disruption to young people’s education, Maths Week is needed more than ever to motivate and encourage pupils. Therefore, we are ensuring that we deliver a blended online and real-world festival for Maths Week 2020. We reached over 400,000 people last year and without face-to-face events we don’t know what the engagement will be this year, but online delivery ensures that everyone on the island can be involved. We are really excited about the programme of events on offer and the opportunity to bring the message of Maths Week to people across the island of Ireland.”
Check out https://www.mathsweek.ie/2020/ for more information on all things Maths Week Ireland.
Maths Week TV Schedule
MathsWeekTV will broadcast two daily shows, one each for primary and secondary schools. The primary school show begins each day at 10:10am, whilst the secondary school show begins daily at 11:11am. Show schedule and presenters:
Monday 12 October:
10.10am: ‘Number Patterns with Susan Okereke’ (Primary Level)
11.11am: ‘Living Maths with Bobby Seagull’ (Secondary Level)
Tuesday 13 October:
10.10am: ‘Big and Small with Caroline Ainslie’ (Primary Level)
11.11am: ‘Maths V Sport with Tom Crawford’ (Secondary Level)
Wednesday 14 October:
10.10am: ‘Maths Rocks with Andrew Jeffrey’ (Primary Level)
11.11am: ‘Puzzling Surprises with Rob Eastaway’ (Secondary Level)
Thursday 15 October:
10.10am: ‘It Doesn’t Add Up with Ken Farquhar’ (Primary Level)
11.11am: ‘The RSS William Guy lecture with Dr Laura Bonnett (Secondary Level)
Friday 16 October:
10.10am: ‘Momentous Maths with Kjartan Poskitt’ (Primary Level)
11.11am: ‘Bridging the Gap with James Tanton’ (Secondary Level)
https://www.mathsweek.ie/2020/mathsweektv-primary/
https://www.mathsweek.ie/2020/mathsweektv-secondary/
Additional highlights of the week include:
- Maths Week Magic workshops – schools across the island will have the chance to join in online workshops learning about the magic of maths.
- Online Family Scavenger Hunt with Maths Week enthusiast Steve Sherman. Get the entire family involved and spend Maths Week solving problems in the most unusual ways. Does your family have what it takes to join the adventure?
- Hands-on Maths – every day Maths Week Ireland will be recommending hands on maths activities that teachers can share with their students and for parents to do at home.
- Connected Classrooms – primary schools all across the island will connect online with each other and with schools in Africa for a maths workshop
- Daily Maths Challenges will be taking place in schools throughout the course of the week.
- Maths Week Ireland Award Ceremony 2020 – The recipient of the Maths Week Award 2020 will be announced for their contribution to Raising Public Awareness of Maths.