We offer the following outreach activities to schools.
To book a visit from the Middlesex Mathematics team, or arrange to visit our North London campus, contact our outreach coordinator Nick Sharples
Towers of Hanoi
Explore recurrence, invariance and problem formulation.
Counting stacks of poles and cutting polygons
Explore complexity, invariance and spotting links between different problems.
The stamp problem
Explore induction and recurrence.
Chessboard covers
Thinking about problems too big for computers
Zome
Explore the geometry of triangles and the golden ratio with brightly coloured construction toys!
Zome in another dimension
Move from 3D to 4D with brightly coloured construction toys!
The Chaos laboratory
A hands-on introduction to chaos, the mathematics of the real world, and how small changes can have massive consequences.
Bridge to University
These entirely self-contained sessions run by Middlesex Mathematics lecturers are designed to motivate and engage A-level maths students as they prepare for their exams.
Each of these 1 – 1.5 hour workshops reviews a specific area of A-level mathematics before looking at how this area relates to university mathematics and to commerce, industry and research.
We also offer bespoke workshops for Statistics, Mechanics and Decision A-level modules.
Integration in higher dimensions
Review integration (C1, C2, or C4) before introducing calculus in higher dimensional spaces: integrating over curves, surfaces and how these relate to important physical quantities in areas such as fluid dynamics and electromagnetism.
Trigonometry and the infinite
Review trigonometric functions and trigonometric identities (C2, C3) before taking a conceptual jump to see how trigonometric functions are treated at university (as infinite series), and why this shift is important!
Binomial theorem: counting possibilities
Review the Binomial Theorem for positive integers (C2) and rational powers (C4) before looking at the derivation of this important formula and its role in
- probability, and
- combinatorics – a huge field of mathematics!
Coordinate geometry and astronomical models
Review coordinate geometry of circles (C2) or parametric equations (C4) before using Copernicus’ heliocentric theory to give a gentle, geometric introduction to Fourier Analysis – hugely important in engineering!
(Computer lab required, or visit us on campus!)
Numerical methods: why computers can’t do maths!
Review numerical methods for root finding (C3, FP1) and numerical integration (FP2) before looking at
- why researchers still look for faster numerical methods despite the increasing power of computers, and
- why we still need rigorous maths in the computer age.
(Computer lab required, or visit us on campus!)
Algebra to abstraction
Review algebraic fractions (C3) and partial fractions (C4) before taking a conceptual jump to how polynomials are treated at university: as abstract mathematical objects.
Functions: beyond differentiability
Review composition, inverses and properties of functions (C3) before moving from the `nice’ functions of A-level to seeing how badly behaved functions can be and why they are important in maths, science and engineering.
Matrices and geometry
Review matrices (FP1) before looking at how matrix inverses are used to find maps between geometric objects.
Matrices and groups
Review matrices (FP1) before a gentle introduction to abstract algebra using simple matrix operations.
Differential equations and long term trends
Review first and second order Ordinary Differential Equations (FP2) before looking at how we can determine long term trends from differential equations without having to solve them!