Choose Maths Day at Sydney University
On Friday 25thJune a group of Year 9 & 10 girls attended a special day at Sydney University organised by AMSI (The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute). This five-year national project aims to empower students, particularly girls, to pursue careers in mathematics.
The day started in the Great Hall with keynote speakers including:
Dr. Marianne Menictas (Data Scientist), Solai Valliapan (CERA, Institute of Actuaries of Aus.) talking about their career paths, and Dr. Zsuzsanna Dancso (Pure Mathematics Senior Lecturer, Syd. Uni.) assisting the girls to understand and solve problems involving Ramsay’s Theorem. See below:
CHOOSEMATHS Puzzle by Zsuzsanna Oancso
What is the smallest number N such that if you colour the edges of a complete graph on N dots red and blue, there’s guaranteed to be a red triangle or a blue triangle?
Can you colour the edges of this complete graph on 5 dots red and blue, so that there are no red triangles, nor blue triangles?
Is it possible to colour the edges of the complete graph on 6 dots red and blue, so that there are no red triangles,nor any blue triangles?
This was followed by activities in different areas of the university (lecture theatres and outdoor lawns):
- Investigating the maths inside Stargazing with the SKA – seeking and sketching spirals
- Into the Fourth Dimension – constructing representations of 4-D solids
- Discovering properties of Pascal’s Triangle
‘This excursion was inspirational in that we had the opportunity to interact with intelligent women such as Sonia Valliapan who use maths in their professions. It was interesting to learn about the possible career paths involving maths that I could consider taking in the future ( like a business analyst or a data scientists).’ Sasha (Year 11)
Caroline Fentoullis
Maths Faculty