MI is excited to announce that we are now offering two courses for middle schoolers and high schoolers going into grades 7-12. All courses will be taught within the framework of our mission, emphasizing both independent and collaborative problem-solving. They are designed to be engaging, rewarding, and most importantly, fun!
Calendar
Problem Solving In Mathematics
Problem Solving In Physics
Session I ( August 5 - 9 )
9 am - 12 pm
1 pm - 4 pm
Location
Edina Community Center
Price
$345*
*All proceeds go directly towards the graduate tuition of the instructor.*
If this price is an issue for your family, please reach out anyway. We may be able to offer a solution.
Overview
Problem Solving In Mathematics
Beginning with a few elegant problems in Euclidian geometry we will quickly be led to one of the most important concepts in mathematics and physics: symmetry. Here, the natural language is group theory which will become a central theme. With this under our belts, we will explore problems pulled from past Putnam Exams with interesting geometric interpretations. Participants can end the course by investigating one of the following objects depending on their interests and skill level:
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The Platonic solids and their classification.
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The "fundamental group" of the circle, the sphere, the torus, and similar objects. This is essentially the collection of loops that can be drawn on these structures.
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Fiber Bundles. In particular, the Hopf fibration (left/above) which is a special projection of the hypersphere in 4 dimensions onto the familiar one in 3 dimensions.
Problem Solving In Physics
Similar to our mathematics course, we will cover a variety of interesting problems. We will begin with key concepts such as energy, force, and momentum along with Newton's laws to answer interesting questions such as "why don't basketballs bounce forever?" From here, we will spring forward several hundred years to the era of Einstein where we will be forced to reconcile the fact that, regardless of your velocity, you will always find that light travels at the same speed, c. In our final meeting, we will go somewhere middle schoolers—and even high schoolers—are never invited: the Stern-Gerlach Experiment. Through a detailed analysis of these simple results, students will be led into the mysterious world of quantum physics where concepts like left, right, forward, and backward become packaged into just up and down. This will be done using strange mathematics (with complex numbers in place of the "real" ones) that students will get to discover—or invent—for themselves.
