Camp Descriptions
Elementary Camps
Math Explorers (Grades 1-2)
"Grow young learners' knowledge and love of all things mathematical..."
This camp has been offered since 2015 and will be taught by Karen Bonnell.
Instructor: Karen Bonnell
Intended for: Students entering grades 1-2
Dates:
- For rising first graders: June 15-19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. OR June 22-26, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
- For rising second graders who have not participated before: June 15-19, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
This camp is designed for our youngest thinkers, students entering first or second grade. This camp will be a smaller group, structured with age-appropriate explorations, including lots of games and hands-on activities. Topics covered will include symmetry, number sense, patterns, and reasoning. We will use books, manipulatives, and challenging puzzles to stretch and grow young learners' knowledge and love of all things mathematical! We will incorporate active movement and snack time as well.
This camp has been offered since 2015. Both morning sessions will be identical sessions for rising first graders; the afternoon session will be geared toward rising second graders and will assume familiarity with standard first grade math curriculum.
Students attending should... be comfortable with the standard Kg mathematics curriculum, including counting to 100 and understanding the relationship between numbers and quantities.
Geometry (Grades 2-3)
"'Play' with the relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes..."
This camp has been offered since 2016 and will be taught by Julie Haskell.
Instructor: Julie Haskell
Intended for: Students entering grades 2-3
Dates: (Morning sessions will be geared toward rising 2nd and 3rd graders; afternoon sessions will be geared toward rising 3rd and 4th graders who have NOT done Geometry camp before)
- June 15-19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. OR 1:00-4:00 p.m.
In this camp, students will “play” with the relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. Students will strengthen their vocabulary and understanding of shapes and spatial relationships through small group explorations, center-based learning, and whole group discussions and projects. Students will use many fun and unique materials to construct their own three-dimensional figures. Students will also play a variety of games that enhance their logic and reasoning skills with geometry and number sense.
Students attending should... be comfortable with the second grade mathematics curriculum and be able to name basic two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and understand the difference between two and three-dimensional objects.
See also: Spatial Training Boosts Math Skills
Fun with Fractions (Grades 3-5)
Instructors: Julie Haskell
Intended Grades: Students entering grades 3-5
Dates: June 22-26, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
In this hands-on camp, students will explore fractions as tools for understanding scale, ratio, and real-world problem solving. Using a variety of manipulatives and real world applications, students will grow in their understanding of fractions and proportions and develop flexible thinking about how parts combine to make a whole. Students will also tackle carefully chosen problem-solving challenges inspired by math competitions and play games with fractions. Throughout the week, students will deepen conceptual understanding, strengthen number sense, and build confidence in explaining their reasoning.
From Zero to Infinity (Grades 4-6)
Instructor: Lisa Armstrong
Intended Grades: Students entering grades 4-6
Dates: June 15-19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
In this camp, students will explore big numbers with an emphasis on understanding magnitudes. We will visit Spartan Stadium to estimate the number of blades of grass, pop popcorn to estimate the number of kernels which would fill the classroom, and estimate a variety of interesting “big numbers”. We will also play a variety of games to strengthen our math muscles!!
Students attending should... be comfortable with the fourth grade mathematics curriculum including making estimations and beginning multiplication, and have strong number sense.
This camp has been offered since 2013.
Middle School Camps
Fractals and Python (Grades 5-8)
Instructors: Jason Curtacio, Omar Bjarki
Intended Grades: Students entering grades 5-8
Dates: June 15-19, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
In this camp, students will be introduced to the programming language Python and learn how to build images of fractals using fundamental coding techniques. We will start with an introduction to coding: what it is, where it comes from, and why we bother. Next, we step through some essential coding methods that are used in every coding language and application (we will use Python only). Students will then be introduced to fractals, a self-symmetric geometric structure. Finally, the students will use the Turtle extension to run their own code and draw their own fractal patterns.
The Art of Counting (Grades 5-8)
Instructors: Jason Curtacio, Omar Bjarki
Intended Grades: Students entering grades 5-8
Dates: June 22-26, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
High School Camps
Topology (Grades 9-12)
Instructors: Jeff Burgess, Bin Sun
Intended Grades: Students entering grades 9-12
Dates: June 15-19, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Pick your favorite polyhedron and count how many faces, edges, and vertices it has. Now compute (#faces)+(#vertices)−(#edges).
What do you get? Try a cube. Try a tetrahedron. You’ll keep getting 2. Is that a coincidence?
It turns out it’s not. This number is called the Euler characteristic, and it stays the same even when you change the shape dramatically—so long as you don’t tear it or glue new pieces together. In fact, the same “2” appears for any surface that is can be continuously deformed into a sphere: you can bend it, round its corners, or make its faces curved, and the Euler characteristic still comes out to 2.
This suggests a deeper idea: we can continuously deform one shape into another (stretching, bending, squishing—without cutting or attaching). A quantity that does not change under such deformations is called a topological invariant. Topology is the branch of mathematics that studies properties of shapes that remain unchanged under continuous deformation. That’s why topologists famously say a donut is the same as a coffee mug: each has one hole.
But is a polytope (sphere-like) the same as a coffee mug (one hole)?
In this topology summer camp, we’ll explore why the Euler characteristic is invariant, and we’ll use it—along with other invariants—to distinguish shapes from a topological point of view. By the end, you’ll have new tools for answering questions like: when can one shape be deformed into another, and when is it impossible?