What Math Workshop Topic Engages Science Fair Audiences?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jakecp
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Topic
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
Sign up Log in
4 replies · 2K views
Jakecp
Messages
50
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


Which problem do you recommend us to talk in a science fair?

Homework Equations


no

The Attempt at a Solution


We have thought about paradoxes but our teacher told us that each person has a different point of view of something like the grand hotel paradox and we need to do a workshop , so , which topic can we do?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
It is an internal maths fair in our school . We are at 9th grade.
 
There are a lot of topics in probability and combinatorics that are readily understood (as a problem statement, at least) by most people.

Lots of pretty facts around Pascal's triangle (web search).

Finding the probability that if you cut a stick in two places randomly you can make a triangle (nice graphical solution).

Human underestimation of rare events: get a class to divide themselves into two groups; in one group each tosses a coin a hundred times and writes down the sequence; in the other group each pretends to toss the coin and writes down a random sequence of 100 results of their own invention. The invented sequences will hardly ever contain a run of five the same, whereas most of the real sequences will.

The 'birthdays' paradox. (This one is ok, there's no disagreement about its resolution amongst the experts.) Web search it if you don't know it. You could write some software to simulate it. A spreadsheet can do it.

The "Monty Hall" problem.

You wrote "talk", but I hope you have the opportunity for something more like a demonstration.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Dr. Courtney
Jakecp said:

Homework Statement


Which problem do you recommend us to talk in a science fair?

Homework Equations


no

The Attempt at a Solution


We have thought about paradoxes but our teacher told us that each person has a different point of view of something like the grand hotel paradox and we need to do a workshop , so , which topic can we do?

You might think about issues of "exponential growth". The monetary effects of compound interest, for example, can lead to surprises, and yet is very relevant to everyday life. Population growth issues also may be of wide interest to your classmates.