A Word from Us

As a final note we must state that although Math Fairs show much promise, and seems quite beneficiary for children of any grade, it has yet to gain much momentum within Newfoundland.

Our attempt to conduct an interview with any children and/or teachers who have participated in such fairs failed as we were unable to find anyone familiar with the Math Fairs format. We find this to be very unfortunate as there are clearly many benefits to be gained within the school system if Math Fairs were to become part of the curriculum.

This research project has created at least two, and hopefully many more (as people continue to research Math Fairs and even read this blog), pre-service teachers who appreciate the positive aspects of Math Fairs and hope to see it integrated into our own classrooms.

Who do You Invite to a Math Fair?

When planning for a Math Fair at an elementary school, one must ask who are to be invited to such academic events? Here is a list of possible attendees that have been asked in the past:

• Parents/Guardians
• Other classes in said school
• Other nearby schools
• Fellow students and participants in the Math Fair
• If presented on parent-teacher night; anyone who would not ordinarily be in the school

http://www.mathfair.com/organize.html#invite

Example #3: Star Jump

Again taken from the SNAP web-site:

The figure on the left should be redrawn so that the circles are each big enough to hold a penny.
Take four pennies. The problem is to put a penny in each of the shaded circles. However, there's a catch. Here's the rules that you have to follow.
To begin, take a penny. Put your finger on a circle. There is an arrow that points from that circle to another circle, and that's where you have to put the first penny.
Continue in this way, each time putting your finger on an empty circle and placing a penny where the arrow points to.

Note: Many more wonderful examples can be found at http://www.mathfair.com/puzzles.html

Example #2: Number Wheel

Taken from the SNAP website:

In the figure on the left, numbers have been placed in the circles. For every pair of neighbouring numbers, the sum of the pair equals the sum of the opposite numbers.
The problem is to place the digits 1 through 6 into the circles using each number as few times as possible. In the picture on the left, we used the number 3 twice.
In each of the figures below the 1 and 5 are already in place. In each case, finish the puzzle by putting the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 6 in the proper places.

http://www.mathfair.com/puzzles.html

An Example Problem

The SNAP Foundation web-site (see "Helpful Links") has provided an example of what Problems are expected to be employed during Math Fairs. One such example follows:

"Place the numbers from 1 to 6 in the circles below so that every

three numbers in a straight line have the same sum."

As stated on the SNAP web-site, such a problem is considered suitable for the younger grades and many children will eventually solve this using the trial and error method. Even though this is not the method that is recommended it will lead them to understand the process and deeper thinking that comes with solving such problems. Therefore, it is important that you praise any method the students use to complete such a problem.

http://www.mathfair.com/puzzles.html

Types of Displays

A form of display commonly used is the tri-fold board that will present the puzzle. The tools needed to solve the presribed puzzle are usually laid out on the table in front of the board.

There are many math fairs which do not make use of such display boards; their math problems are to be presented on art paper which lies flat on the table.

There have been math fairs, where such schools and parents are privleged to have many resources, that endorse the rule of having all the displays presented in three-dimensional format.

Children could also create displays where the main piece is a large board taped to the floor. This set-up transforms the visitors into the manipulative pieces needed in solving the math problem.

http://www.mathfair.com/organize.html#displays

An Important Note

The whole purpose of math fairs is to teach students the process of problem solving!

Math fairs also teach students that speed doesn’t necessarily equal efficiency because it sometimes can take up to a day or more to solve a problem correctly. Math fairs are different from traditional math instruction because it gives them more time than usual to complete the problems.

Five Steps For Guiding Students Through a Math Fair

Distributing the Puzzles
The most common way for a teacher to distribute math puzzles is to simply supply a vast collection and have each student work on as many puzzles as they are capable of doing. Later the puzzles that will be used in the math fairs are chosen, as are the groups.

Solving the Puzzles
This is the main purpose for which math fairs are created. The teacher must ensure that each student is given more them ample time to complete the problems. The students are encouraged to create different levels of thinking to suit the various ages within their audience.

Preparing the displays
Giving students the right amount of time depending on the difficulty of their display is important. Students should be taught that there are two main purposes of their display which are,
1) To help present the puzzle (not the answer) to the math fair visitors.
2) To tempt visitors to try the puzzle.

Rehearsal
A rehearsal gives the students a chance to show that they are truly comfortable with their math problems and are able to confidently present it to the audience. It also gives them a chance to test the durability of the display they worked so hard on. A part of the class can present their presentation to the others and then the roles can be reversed or they can do it like a true dress rehearsal with everyone sat up.

Presenting to the public
The math fair is set up in a place that can appropriately accommodate everyone; in most instances the school gymnasium is used. Once they are set up, the public are invited in to try out the puzzles that are presented. Breaks are also allotted for a certain time with food and beverages to give everyone a rest period.

http://www.mathfair.com/organize.html

An E-mail From Galileo

In an effort to find more information on Math Fairs we e-mailed the lovely people working at Galileo.org and told them of our project and our search for anything Math Fair-related. Brenda Gladstone MBA, the Chief Operating Officer with the Galileo Educational Network was kind enough to reply to our e-mail with this helpful information:

Galileo developed and continues to provide supports to teachers and school for Math Fairs in order to:
* engage students in worthy, robust mathematical problems and puzzles
* increase teachers' mathematical knowledge, understanding and literacy
* develop a teaching script that is more conducive to learning: developing mathematical literacy, numeracy, mathematical reasoning and mathematical coherence in their students
* create a collaborative network of math teachers, mathematicians and math educators to improve mathematics learning
* create a resource of robust mathematical problems
* collaboratively study teachers' teaching to uncover the mathematics and pedagogy needed for the work of improving mathematics teaching

Originally when we started Math Fairs we obtained the funding support to provide all our Math Fair PD sessions and work day sessions in classes with students at no cost to participating educators or schools. The last few years we have had to charge fee-for-service costs in order to continue to offer the supports. The results of the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies) were fundamental research findings that informed our motivation to use Math Fairs to improve math teaching and learning.

Two Types of Math Fairs

There are two types of math fairs: teacher driven and student driven.

Teacher driven math fairs are usually used for the earlier grades and teachers set up the the actual stations for parents and students to participate in. This will give them a chance to interact with each other and discuss their findings in different ways. Some examples of the stations that are set up are graphing and number games.

Student driven math fairs are similar to science fairs except it deals with mathamatical problems. This is often done in later grades and judges are present to give out awards to the best activity. Later that day, students and parents can look at all the exhibits and see the awards.

http://712educators.about.com/cs/mathematics/a/mathfairs.htm

The Four Fundamental Guidelines

Student-centered

Non-competitive

All inclusive

Problem based

1. The goal of this math fair is to have students work on their projects independently with no help from anyone such teachers and parents. They have to come up with their ideas and think critically about what they want to do and why. This will give each individual student a sense of ownership over their math fair entry.


2. By making math fairs non competitive, you will be encouraging a broader range of students to participate. This will give everyone a chance to gain a positive learning experience from their participation in the math fair. On the other hand, if this was a competition, students would be intimidated and would most likely feel as if they were up for failure.


3. As opposed to a science fair, where winners are selected from each class to compete against the entire school, an all inclusive math fair promotes one hundred percent participation from everyone.


4. SNAP math fairs give students the opportunity to become familiar with the math problems. With the problem-based guideline, students must take the problem they are given and find a process that they think is most suitable for them to help find the answer. The most important part is presenting and working through the puzzle with the math spectators with the solution to the problem being of lesser importance.

http://www.mathfair.com/guidelines.html

What is a Math Fair?

During the early stages of our research, we quickly discovered that there are not many people who have heard of Math Fairs. Therefore, we made it our first goal to find a useful definition for those of us who have never experienced Math Fairs.

A Math Fair is a problem solving fair that, unlike a science fair, it is inclusive and non-competitive.

* The math fair was started by Dr. Ted Lewis and Dr. Andy Liu.

The Beginning of Our Studies

We are new to the subject of Math Fairs but we are very interested in this new-to-us initiative. With this blog we aim to discover many interesting aspects of Math Fairs to help us plan with the integration of this project in our very own classrooms. The following posts will document our research as we continue on this journey of discovering Math Fairs.