By Ben Liu
SIAMUW recently held its annual Math Fair at Lockwood Elementary School. Over two hundred students from grades four and five took part in activities designed and guided by volunteers from SIAMUW.
Students took part in four activities. In Tic-Tac-Topology students played tic-tac-toe on the Cylinder and learned about topology and how different shapes can change the rules of the game. The Monty Hall Problem is a famous gameshow scenario about probability where making a counterintuitive choice can improve the odds of winning the prize. The Sierpinkski triangle is a fractal made of every-smaller triangles nested inside one another; students cut out and assembled pyramids to make a giant three-dimensional version. In How Fast do Diseases Spread, students learned about exponential growth and how quickly diseases can be transmitted.
Lockwood Elementary has been hosting SIAMUW and the Math Fair for many years, and we look forward to continuing the tradition in years to come. Students who want to get involved in future events can email siamuw@uw.edu for more information.