Recap of Week ⌊π⌋ of MathPath 2021

Last weekend, students submitted photos, played games, and completed various challenges to earn points for their team in Saturday's Scavenger Hunt. David's team was the only group to collect over 100 points, bringing his counselor group to first place! Saturday's fascinating guest plenary on voting theory was given by Dr. Deanna Haunsperger. We learned all about plurality versus ranking-based voting systems and the surprisingly dramatic difference these methods can make in the results!

David's team won Best Photo and tied with Stevanni's team for Best Drawing! MathPathers did all sorts of things in the Scavenger Hunt.

On Sunday the 11th, MathPathers had an ultimate showdown playing Geoguessr, watched the England vs. Italy soccer game, completed the Sunday crossword, and enjoyed a campaign of Dungeons & Dragons. Even more exciting than a weekend full of activities was the camp-wide Spirit Week. Campers showed their enthusiasm for MathPath by participating in different themes each day! Students wore their MathPath shirts and hats for MathPath Monday, snazziest outfits for Tasteful Tuesday, wildest hats and hairstyles for Wacky Wednesday, and relaxed in pajamas on Fun Friday. 

Though he did not wear a funky hat or hairstyle, Wednesday's guest plenary given by Dr. Satyan Devadoss kept us entertained. Dr. Devadoss introduced us to some incredible mathematical structures and feats of engineering in his talk, "Math Mysteries at Burning Man." After showing us sculptures in the Nevada desert, we got to learn about unfolding polyhedra, cubes, and extra-dimensional polyhedra!


MathPathers decked out in their counselor group's color for ThRainbow Thursday! 

Dr. Deborah Kent arrived at MathPath 2021 to give the final 2 weeks of mind-blowing history plenaries, and also taught Hyperbolic Geometry in Week 3. Prof S returned to teach Probability Through Games, and Prof Pudwell joined the Week 3 faculty to teach Catalan Numbers and Proof By Story. Students enjoyed many other breakouts, including Frobenius Numbers and Chicken Nuggets, Wallpaper Patterns and the Klein Bottle, and Probability Through Games.

Origami class with Dr. Asia produced some amazing student creations!

A stimulating collection of activities this past week has kept the MathPathers busy laughing and enjoying themselves with friends. Counselor Joe hosted some riveting games of GO while Daria hosted contact, a word-guessing game, and David supplied some tricky alphametics puzzles. With some help from staff and faculty member Dr. Jane, Counselor Ella organized a discussion about what it feels like to struggle with imposter syndrome in mathematics. In the true spirit of MathPath, students and staff shared stories and found hope and encouragement from one another.

Counselor Maciej hosted a game of Secret Sith.

As we enter our final week of MathPath 2021, counselors (and campers!) are hard at work preparing the yearbook and talent show to end the month. In this last week, MathPathers are sure to make the most of the remaining time with friends and continue learning new mathematics every day! 

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