1. Julia Robinson Math Festivals
For the Love of Math
Raj Shah ph.d. & travis sperry - math plus academy

2. For the Love of Math
We LOVE math and want to spread that love to others
We wanted to create a math festival in Columbus, OH
Discovered JRMF through Dan Finkel (Math For Love)
Goal: To change the focus from right & wrong to trial & error

3. How JRMF Works Three to four hour event
Featuring tables of rich, deep mathematical problems
Staffed by professors, teachers, grad students, etc.
Where students are free to engage in any problem

4. Folding Fractals Get a long strip of paper
Fold it in half, right over left
Fold it in half again, right over left
Open the strip, note the pattern of ⋀ and ⋁ folds
What do you notice?
Level 1, 2, 3 questions

5. Vision
Inspire a life-long curiosity for mathematics by instilling a genuine interest in creative problem solving for an early age.

6. History Founded by Nancy Blachman, recreational math enthusiast
Named after the late Julia Robinson, mathematics professor at the University of California. Best known for her solution to Hilbert’s Tenth Problem.
Started in 2007 at Google and funded by AIM
Hosted throughout the US, including Google, Pixar, Stanford and UC Berkeley.

8. Our Experience (last two years)
Grew from 130 to 160 students from 4th to 10th grade
Cost: ~$3,000 (venue, resources, marketing, stipends)
Planning Time: ~80 hours

9. Our Experience (details)
Recruiting Volunteers:
Exploit personal networks
Partner with local college math department
Activities:
Hands-on activities work best
Add games to give kids a break
Tell parents to give kids freedom to explore and make mistakes
Marketing:
Distribute flyers via public and private schools
Leverage social media channels
Call on personal networks