Events

February 27, 2020

We live in a world made up of complex networks from social groups, to proffesional colleagues, to the most complex network on the planet, the internet. One set of tools that can help us to make sense of these networks is graph theory.

A graph is a collection of vertices/nodes that have edges between them to represent connections or relationships. An important subset of graph theory tackles the problem of how can we color the vertices of our graph so that no two neighboring/connected vertices have the same color.

In this math circle, we will see how graph theory provides us a useful framework for discussing real world problems and then set out to solve some problems that teachers might encounter on a regular basis.

October 30, 2019

In the 1970's, John Conway was interested in studying questions about the simulation of life as defined by John von Neumann in 1940. After playing around with several ideas and rules for simulating life, Conway came up with his eponymous game.

The Game of Life has just a few simple rules to decide if an organism, represented by a square in a larger grid, can surive based on its neighboring cells.

Almost 50 years later, people have discovered a rich collection of unexpected and beautiful features of the game. In this math circle, we will learn about how Conway's Game of Life works and use inquiry to explore some of its beauty.

One Dimensional Game of Life

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