Mathematics Festival 2025
Maths Week in New Zealand: A Celebration of Mathematics
Maths Week, a celebration of mathematics, was first established in 1998 by the New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers (NZAMT). This annual event aims to foster engagement and interest in mathematics across schools and the wider community, encouraging people to enjoy and challenge themselves with math problems and activities.
During Maths Week, schools participate by organizing events that involve students in problem-solving challenges and celebrating mathematical thinking. Daily math problems and jokes are displayed in schools, such as on whiteboards for students and families to solve and discuss. These activities aim to make math fun and accessible, supporting learning in an interactive way.
Maths Week is a free annual event available online. It attracts approximately 280,000 students, teachers, and home educators each year. The event offers a variety of activities designed for teachers, home educators, students, and anyone else interested in mathematics.
Some of the activities include:
- Precision and accuracy: Provides datasets for students to judge precision and accuracy in scientific settings.
- How long is it?: Uses a collection of length measurements to help students develop an understanding of the decimal system as applied to length measurement.
- Cubits, spans and digits: Reinforces the degree of uncertainty when using non-SI measurements.
- Measurements, weird and wonderful: A collection of unusual measurement units.
- Measuring foot pressure: Reinforces the use of SI units, derived units, and prefixes.
- The activities in the suite of resources covering "Our atmosphere and climate 2020" focus on interpreting climate data and using infographics.
For those who wish to delve deeper into the use of mathematical models, more information can be found here. Students can also use Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ datasets to explore regional weather data and analyze climate data using an inquiry-based approach.
The Measurement - introduction resource, created in collaboration with the Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand, supports math and numeracy learning. It includes a suite of articles and videos designed to help students understand the importance of measurement in everyday life.
One notable individual who uses her skills in maths and science is Dr. Hayley Reynolds, a scientist who contributes to society and helps doctors with her work.
For more information about Maths Week, visit www.mathsweek.co.nz.
Engaging in Maths Week's activities not only fosters an appreciation for mathematics but also enhances one's learning in the field of education and self-development. The abundance of resources and problem-solving challenges available during Maths Week facilitate effective learning and skill development in mathematics.
