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High School Mathematics Talks
2007-2008
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The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Santa Clara University is pleased to offer mathematics enrichment talks for high school classes and mathematics clubs. Faculty members from the Department will be available to give entertaining and informative presentations designed to convey the joy of mathematical discovery and insight into why mathematics can be such an engrossing activity.
Talks are generally planned to fit into a fifty-minute class period with time for discussion and questions. If a different amount of time is desired, this can be arranged with the speaker. The level for most talks can be adapted to take into account the background of the students, but this also should be discussed with the speaker prior to the presentation.
Speakers are available at many different times that fit around their teaching schedules. High school mathematics teachers may request a visit and schedule a time by contacting the desired speaker from the list below.
Speakers and Topics
- Robert Bekes (tel: 408-554-4883 or email:
rbekes at scu.edu)
Topic: What Are the Chances? We present some interesting and controversial problems of probability, including the birthday problem, the Monte Hall problem, and the hanging problem. We will also discuss some card tricks and gambling strategies.
- Aaron Antonio Diaz (tel: 408-554-6811 or email:
adiaz1 at scu.edu)
Topic: Magnitized Thermal Rossby Waves. A short movie will be shown to demonstrate a magnitized thermal Rossby wave, that is a phenomenon which arises in the study of the flow of a heated fluid in the presence of a strong magnetic field. This type of flow occurs in such places as the heart of the sun, within a planet's core, and within a fusion reactor. Following the movie we will discuss some of the mathematical and computational tools used to study the structure of these waves.
- Frank Farris (tel: 408-554-4430 or email:
ffarris at scu.edu)
Topic: Symmetry in Wallpaper. We show lots of pretty pictures to introduce basic ideas of symmetry. In a hands-on activity, students identify translations, rotations, reflections, and glide reflections that are symmetries of specific wallpaper patterns.
- Lauri Papay (tel: 408-551-7082 or email:
lpapay at scu.edu)
Topic: Non-decimal Number Systems. We will look at the decimal number system with which we are all familiar and then show some number systems whose base is not ten. In particular, we will consider the bases two (binary), eight (octal), and sixteen (hexadecimal). We will discover an easy way to convert from one number system to another when one base is a power of another base.
- Jean Pedersen (tel: 408-554-4538 or email:
jpedersen at scu.edu)
Topic: Number Tricks and Card Tricks You Can Do Yourself. In this presentation the speaker will show some number tricks and some card tricks. When magicians do tricks they seek to conceal why they work, but when mathematicians do tricks they seek to reveal why they work. Consequently all the tricks presented will be explained.
- Ed Schaefer (tel: 408-554-6899 or email:
eschaefer at scu.edu)
Topic Using Geometry to Solve Problems about Numbers. We will use an elliptic curve to solve the following problem: When is the product of two consecutive integers equal to the product of three consecutive integers? (This talk is accessible to any student familiar with the rudiments of graphing equations.)
- Rick Scott (tel: 408-554-4460 or email:
rscott at schubert.scu.edu)
Topic: How Do We Know That the Earth Is Not a Donut? The surface of a ball and the surface of a donut are just two examples of surfaces on which a creature might live. We will discuss surfaces in general and how someone living on a particular surface might tell which kind of surface it is.
- Nicholas Tran: (tel: 408-554-4465 or email:
ntran at scu.edu)
Topic: Problems Even Computers Can't Solve. Computers are very good at calculations, but there are problems that even the most powerful computers cannot solve. We will look at some examples and their applications in protecting information on the Internet and fighting spam emails.
Maintainer: webmaster at math.scu.edu
Last Updated: 8 October 2007