School Competition
A huge thank you to Pearson for sponsoring
the prizes for this competition.
MathsWorldUK and the University of Leeds hosted the MoMath MATRIX conference in September 2016. This was an exciting time when people from across the world gathered in Leeds to talk about mathematics and how we can help other people to engage with maths more and understand its beauty and importance in our lives today.
Mathematics is a constantly developing subject and many mathematicians past and present have played an important role. Students from across the UK and beyond participated in a competition to produce a 5 minute video exploring the work of a great mathematician. They were asked to explain the mathematics and its impact and encouraged to give other interesting facts about the mathematician – what is it about them that is impressive or interesting?
The judging panel which consisted of members from the University of Leeds and MathsWorldUK were very impressed at the high quality of entries that were submitted and had a difficult task in selecting the winners. We thank all the participants for their efforts and teachers and schools for their support.
After much deliberation the following was decided:
First prize awarded to Hollygirt School for their video about Alan Turing and the Enigma machine.
The judges enjoyed the enthusiasm, acting, and costumes. Thoughtful and funny. Don’t (always!) listen to your teachers!
Second prize awarded to Cheadle Hulme School for their video: A Brief History of John von Neumann’s Game Theory
The judges thought this was a challenging topic clearly explained, with a polished production and good coverage of core concepts.
Runners up prizes were awarded to four further teams:
St Paul’s Girls’ School for their video: An Introduction to Trigonometry
Judges commented: Two applications I’d not seen before. Good use of graphics and different media types.
Samuel Ward Academy for their video: Paul Erdős
Judges commented: Artistic cinematography and creativity. Showing the collaborative nature of mathematics. This video was also given the creativity award.
Notting Hill and Ealing High School for their video: Pythagoras’ Theorem
Judges commented: Good inclusion of a mathematical proof brought to life by the animated illustrations.
Greenhead College for their video: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Judges commented: Great opening and closing and we liked the clay Fermat. We had so many comments but we couldn’t fit them all in! 😉
Additionally, the judges gave the comedy award to Greenhead College for their video: Fibonacci
These videos were all presented at the MATRIX 2016 Conference at the University of Leeds.