|  | Dear Readers,
We wish all the students starting the Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate in the South and students preparing for their A-levels and GCSEs in the North the very best of luck! Exams of course bring the good weather and primary schools may be interested in some of the outdoor maths activities we have here. We have more resources and activities for teachers to do with their pupils on our website. There are also a lot of Maths events taking place all over the Island, for details, see the “What’s on Section”. This month also we pay our respects to Douglas Buchanan a part of our team and hearts who passed away recently
Don’t forget to put the Maths Week dates 12-20 October 2024 in your plans for next term. Keep up to date with us on our social media pages. Click the buttons below to follow our pages and the content we create for you! If you have any questions be sure to drop us an email at mathsweek.wd@setu.ie We’d love to hear from you, Eoin Gill |
| | | | | | |  | It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Douglas Buchanan last month after a short illness bravely borne. Douglas contributed 93 “Maths beyond the Textbooks” pieces to this newsletter. The wisdom of a lifetime of teaching was evident in his writing; containing useful advice, sharing interesting ideas and posing perplexing puzzles. Douglas was born and educated in Zimbabwe and taught there for seven years before arriving in England in 1981. He taught at Eagle House School for 29 years and retired in July 2010. After retirement, he continued his involvement with mathematics traveling around Britain hosting his popular DCBeagle challenges. He came to Maths Week Ireland in 2012 and was an important part of Maths Week each year since, traveling to all parts of the island over the years including Dublin, Mallow, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Derry~Londonderry, Belfast, Cavan, Galway, Sligo, Athlone, Thurles, Maynooth, Waterford Carlow, Kildare. Douglas also visited many special schools. He met each audience with enthusiasm and was always very patient and encouraging. Douglas was a keen rambler and was involved in a lot of volunteer work. He will have had a lasting effect on thousands of young people and their teachers. He will be sadly missed at Maths Week Ireland. If anyone who met Douglas through Maths Week would like to share memories they would be welcome for our tribute page. |
| | Mathematician of the Month |
| William McClelland (1859-1928)Born in Loughgall, north of Armagh town, on 4th June 1859. He was educated at TCD and served as headmaster at schools in Santry and in Portarlington, and for 24 years at the Grammar School in Clonmel. Writing books, both on spherical trigonometry and on geometry he contributed greatly towards maths. |
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| | Julie Crowley
Born in Blarney, Cork, on 1st June she was educated entirely at UCC. Her whole career has been spent at CIT (now MTU). She does a lot of work in the Academic Learning Centre there, running maths drop-in sessions that are attended by students across all disciplines and levels. |
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| | Cork carnival of science 20248th-9th June 2024
The Maths Week Team will be in Cork next weekend for the fabulous Cork Carnival of Science which runs in Fitzgerald Park and features more than 50 exhibitors offering non-stop family-friendly experiments, interactive activities, games, street cuisine and a packed line-up of live entertainment. Cork Carnival of Science features 22 science shows each day. |
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| | | SMEC (Science and Mathematics Education Conference)13th - 14th June 2024
The conference is held by by the Centre for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning (CASTeL). It takes place at Dublin City University on St. Patrick’s Campus and is an arena to to share, debate, discuss and reflect upon ideas under the conference theme. The conference theme this year is ‘Beyond Boundaries – Future-proofing Science and Maths Education’ SMEC 2024. It is open to researchers, teachers, policymakers, students, industry representatives and interested others.
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| | Northern Ireland Raspberry Jam-June 202422nd June 2024
The Northern Ireland Raspberry Jam is an event for kids/adults of all ages to come together and learn a bit more about the Raspberry Pi and coding/electronics in general.Its held in collaboration with the School of Physics and Mathematics at Queen's and the Northern Ireland Raspberry Jam team, these free monthly events involve tinkering, coding, electronics and generally just having a stack of fun making stuff! All equipment is provided and we have activities for ages 6-106, from complete beginners right up to seasoned experts. |
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| | | Clonmel Junction FestivalJuly 3rd 2024
The Maths Week Team will also be supporting the Clonmel Junction Festival with games and puzzles at the Family Day at teh Clonmel Sports Hub from 4-8pm. The Clonmel Junction Arts Festival takes place from 28 June to 7 July and features theatre, music, dance, visual art, film and much more. |
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| | North West STEM Fest15th July 2024
Young people around Leitrim and Sligo may be interested in this summer camp which promises a lot of problem-solving development and is run by innovative Maths Teacher and Maths Week Ireland presenter, Mr Math Weeney. The activities are designed for all learners from 12 - 16, boys and girls included. and focuses on fostering love and enthusiasm for STEM. North West STEM Fest takes place across 3 weeks this summer. Dromahair (15th July - 19th July) Carrigallen (22nd July - 26th July) Ballinamore Week 1 (22nd July - 26th July) Ballinamore Week 2 with New content (29th July - 2nd August) |
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| | Teacher’s Primary & Post Primary Summer Courses with Maths Content |
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| The Primary Mathematics Curriculum - The ‘How’ and the ‘What’ Sligo - Sligo Education Centre on 01-07-2024 Kilkenny-School of the Holy Spirit, Kilkenny (R95 DV56) on 01-07-2024 Monaghan-St. Anne's NS, Bailieborough,on 01-07-2024 Clare-Ennis CBS on 01-07-2024 Athlone-SummerEducate Together N.S., Tullamore on 01-07-2024 Limerick-Limerick Education Support Centre on 01-07-2024 09:30 DublinWest-Scoil Mhuire Junior School, D15 F293 on 01-07-2024 Mayo-Áras Inis Gluaire on 01-07-2024 Navan-Navan Education Centre on 01-07-2024 Galway-Scoil Einde BNS, Dr Mannix Road, Salthill on 01-07-2024 Cork- Cork Education Support Centre on 01-07-2024
Summer Course 2024: Explorers Education Programme: Exploring Ireland’s Seashore through Science, Maths, Geography, English and Art Marine Institute01-07-2024 Galway |
| | | | | IMTA Annual Conference23rd November 2024
The IMTA National conference will be held in Portlaoise. The theme for this years conference is Finding creativity, diversity and meaning in Mathematics with key note speaker Jo Boaler from Standford university . The conference will include multiple talks and panel discussions. |
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| | AT BLOOM 2024 The Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio in Nature by St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel, NewryPupils from St Louis Grammar School in Kilkeel, Newry, had a wonderful exhibit at the Bloom Festival in Dublin. They explored the Fibonacci number sequence in this mathematical postcard garden, which explored nature's beauty using Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio, Phi. Introduced in 1202 by Italian mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci, the sequence follows a simple pattern generated by adding the two preceding numbers to get a third and so on. 1,1,2,3,5,8,13…. These numbers occur in surprising places in nature especially in plants. When you divide each number by the preceding number it approaches the golden ration 1.618 at relationship considered aesthetically pleasing. It is also the basis of the golden spiral. St Louis’ garden looks at how the sequence is generated in numbers and spiral form throughout nature and encourages visitors to calculate their own beauty using the Golden Ratio. |
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| Maths Beyond the Textbook |
| In Memory of Douglas our friend, guide and prolific supplier of maths wisdom, limericks and brainteasers.
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