鈥淭his is Mathematics鈥� is a popular-science festival where everyone can learn about mathematical discoveries, practice problem solving and have fun. For the third time, a team of students fr om the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics of 吃瓜官网 (DMM NSU), with the support of the Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok, is holding an event of this format.
The idea to hold the festival came from the students on the subject "Basics of project management". It was conceived as an event wh ere guests of different ages 鈥� schoolchildren, students, parents with children 鈥� with minimal mathematical knowledge can learn about mathematics, which is not taught at school. So, at the events in August 2021 and May 2022, the guests learned what mathematical modeling is, what the magic of mathematics is, and how swimming ring mathmatically differs from swimming mattress.
Elizaveta Markhinina, 2nd year student of the Research Group of the DMM NSU, organizer of the 鈥淭his is Mathematics鈥� festival, said:
We want to make mathematics more accessible to people who do not do mathematics professionally. In fact, there is a lot of interesting mathematics that can be told in an accessible and visual way to non-mathematicians 鈥� for this we try to use various game formats, talk about familiar things in unusual ways. We invite scientists and students to talk about mathematics in simple terms.
This year, the speakers of the festival were participants in a major scientific and educational project of the Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok - the Great Mathematical Workshop. They talked about the research they did over the summer. Festival guests learned what mathematicians do and why it is important. In addition to lectures, it was possible to play different games and get acquainted with the exhibits of the interactive exhibition.
Of the games, the guests of the festival especially liked the mathematical skirmish 鈥� a team game in which you can "shoot" at your opponents by solving problems. In the mini-game zone, it was possible to practice solving various puzzles during the day: find the optimal strategy for building a tower of glasses, try planting ladybugs on leaves, or check the correctness of the theorem using coloring books.
A 1st year student, leading mini-games Daria Mironova commented:
It was especially good at this festival to unite people of different ages. Interest in mathematics blurred age boundaries, adults looked at the exhibits with the same ardent curiosity as children did. It was also amazing how easily strangers to each other found a common language and already jointly thought about the tasks presented in the mini-games.
A separate pride of the festival team is an interactive exhibition. With each festival, there are more and more exhibits on it. Some of them are quite classic, for example, the wheel in the form of a Reuleaux triangle or a puzzle about packing circles into a rectangle. But there are also author's finds of the team, such as the Sieve of Eratosthenes 鈥� Pop-it, or the Ulam's Tablecloth.
A 2nd year student, organizer of the festival Sofia Yurchenko, added:
My overall impression is good. There is always something to strive for and something to improve, but compared to what we had for the first time, this is heaven and earth. It's great to see. There is no longer a sharp experience that something will not work out. You just enjoy the fact that people like the festival.
