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Fields Announcements |
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| January 8, 2009 |
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PRESS RELEASEFields Institute to host Ontario's first SNAP Math Fair and ConferenceTORONTO, May 1, 2006 - Math educators from across Ontario are gathering
at the Fields Institute on Friday May 5, 2006, to participate in Ontario's
first SNAP Math Fair and Conference, an interactive event that endeavors
to help educators excite their students about mathematics by exposing
young minds to fun hands-on problems and puzzles. The name SNAP is an acronym for the guiding principles of this unconventional type of math fair: Student-centered, Non-competitive, All-inclusive, and Problem-based. It is based on the idea that learning mathematics is accomplished by solving meaningful and interesting problems. The conference is presented by the SNAP Mathematics Foundation, a non-profit organization - see www.mathfair.com - and is also sponsored by the Canadian Mathematical Society and the Fields Institute. One of the day's activities will be a "real math fair" presented by local students and currently being organized at their elementary school. (For photos of past math fairs visit www.mathfair.com/about.html). The projects at a SNAP math fair are problems that the students present to the visitors. In preparation, the students will have solved chosen problems, rewritten them in their own words, and created hands-on models for the visitors. At a SNAP math fair, the students are the facilitators who help the visitors solve the problems. This process of involving students in fun, rich mathematics is the underlying vision that makes the SNAP program so unique and effective. No first prize! No arguments about judging! Everyone is a winner! The Math Fair will also feature guest speakers, including Dr. Ed Barbeau,
professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, and Bill Ritchie, owner/CEO
of ThinkFun. Dr. Barbeau is the former chair of the education committee
of the Canadian Mathematical Society. He has published a number of books
directed to students and teachers of mathematics, and has worked with
high school students preparing for Olympiad competitions, including
five occasions where he accompanied the Canadian team to the International
Mathematical Olympiad. Bill Ritchie is a member of the SNAP board of
directors, and his company ThinkFun, (www.puzzles.com),
produces high quality mathematical themed puzzles. The Fields Institute, located in Toronto, is recognized as one of the
world's leading independent mathematical research institutions. With
a wide array of pure, applied, industrial, financial and educational
programs, The Fields Institute attracts over 1,000 visitors annually
from every corner of the globe, to collaborate on leading-edge research
programs in the mathematical sciences. The Field's Institute is funded
by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Ontario
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, seven principal sponsoring
universities, seven affiliate universities and several corporate sponsors.
See www.fields.utoronto.ca
for further details.
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