A level Mathematicians Set Off for Maths Fest 2023

On Thursday 9 February, the A level Mathematics students set off to the Royal Institution in London for Maths Fest 2023.  The day consisted of various Mathematics speakers which were highly interesting.  The Sixth Form students saw how Mathematics is applied to everyday life in a very engaging way from pollution and numbers in the news to juggling with patterns.

Starting off the event, they received an insightful talk from Tom Crawford who is a Mathematics tutor at the University of Oxford.  He explained how mathematical models are an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to understanding and saving our planet.  Using fluid dynamics and the Coriolis effect, he was able to model the path of river water as it enters the sea, enabling him to track pollution.  The students also had a very useful talk with examination advice for some of their upcoming A level examinations.  James Grime taught the girls how to make birthday magic squares inspired by Euler’s squares, where he explained how many Latin squares can be overlaid.

Throughout the day the Sixth Form had some problem-solving questions with Aimée (U6MCB) and Katie (U6MAC) winning prizes for completing a puzzling cross number.  Phoebe (U6SUT) was the closest to estimating the number of books that were in the library of the venue.