Mathematicians to provide host of educational activities on Moloka'i

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa mathematics and engineering students, faculty and staff will team up with Moloka‘i High School to host Moloka‘i Math Day on Saturday, March 6.  The event is part of UH Mānoa’s School and University Partnership for Educational Renewal in Mathematics (SUPER-M), a newly funded National Science Foundation Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education project. It is being co-organized with the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship program.

Moloka‘i Math Day, which is open to the public, will be held at the Mitchell Pauole Center in Kaunakakai from 9:00 a.m. to noon.  No advance registration is necessary.

 

The half-day event is designed to illustrate the importance of math and features fun, hands-on activities. Participants can tinker with robots, make and play with flubber, create and decipher codes, build a bubble-powered rocket, play with a deck of cards to build their math skills, learn about polyhedrons or work their way through a laser maze.

 

Led by mathematics professor Monique Chyba, the UH Mānoa team of 20 undergraduate and graduate students and 10 faculty and staff will help run various discovery stations.  Moloka‘i High School students will also participate as mentors, along with local teachers volunteering their time.

 

The intent of the SUPER-M project is to make high-level mathematical concepts accessible to K-12 students through partnerships between teachers and mathematics graduate students.   To track the SUPER-M, visit http://www2.math.hawaii.edu/superm/. 

 

The event is supported by UH Mānoa’s Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity office, the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship program, the Society of Women Engineers, Moloka‘i High School, the City & County of Maui and MEO-Moloka‘i.

 

For more information, contact Linda Veneciano at (808) 956-4669 or lindahv@math.hawaii.edu.