MAA MathFest 2024 was in Indianapolis, Indiana. MathHappens team includes Lauren Siegel, Ella Basken, Matt Hertel, Austin Bell and not shown, Christopher Danielson and guest teammate Nathan Hall. We had some great conversations about Math Rooms with old friends and new: We gave away over 100 circle area models!. Christopher Danielson got creative with multiple models. He wrote a
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Every year at Math On-A-Stick, we get questions about whether similar events exist at other state fairs, and about what is required to bring this kind of educational play to other fairs. As far as we know, the Minnesota State Fair is the only state fair with a large-scale playful family math event. We have dreamed of supporting others in
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Last month we concluded another successful group of MathHappens Remote internships. We had 4 students participating from UCLA, NC State, Texas Woman’s University, and Queen’s University in Toronto. At our headquarters in Austin we rely on interns to help with our mission and everyday tasks. Interns design and make new models, attend local events, and spend time assembling models to
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Jordan Varat is our Laser Operator and Instructor at MathHappens and works with our laser to achieve maximum quality and efficiency of our prints! Here she writes about a technique she uses to create our butterfly puzzle. Our Marjorie Rice Tessellating Pentagons #9 Butterfly Puzzle is one of our more popular puzzles right now, and it also utilizes a wonderful
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MathHappens offers remote internship experiences to students who do not live near our offices in Austin. Interns are sent a kit in the mail and the goal is for them to learn digital fabrication of math models (usually using a laser cutter or 3D printer), design and make a model, and host an outreach event showcasing their model(s). Emma Starkman,
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science – Pacific Division is a conference we’ve been interested in for several years. In 2024, our colleague Joan Horvath, who we’ve worked with at MakerFaire Los Angeles and other events invited us to participate in her session. Matt Hertel created a presentation to share the math room concept, where we are today
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MathHappens participated in the Flint Hills Family Festival this year. This is a free annual arts festival produced by The Ordway, an arts and performance center in downtown Saint Paul, MN. We brought mostly the same materials as we did to Kickoff to Summer the previous weekend, including sphere stacking, the 3D Shape Museum, and a table full of puzzles.
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Maker Pfest was a Success! “I just wanted to thank your group for hosting a booth at this year’s Maker Pfest. They were so friendly and professional with everyone stopped by, and I know they were kept busy the whole time. All the kids who stopped by looked like they were having a bunch of fun. If you all would
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The Minnesota State Fair puts on an event to celebrate the beginning of summer (Kickoff to Summer) each Memorial Day weekend, and for the first time this year, MathHappens was on the scene. We brought Geometiles and an instant camera in order to build a 3D Shape Museum. We brought multi-colored spheres and frames for building pyramids and other shapes.
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