Events
Upcoming Events
Event 3 (AY 2024-2025)
- Time/Day: 9:30 am - noon on April 26 (Saturday), 2025
- Location: BMAIN 2.232 on the Brownsville campus of UTRGV
- Session Leaders:
- Dr. Hyung Won Kim (Associate Professor at UTRGV)
- Mr. Gustavo Valencia (Associate Professor of Practice at UTRGV)
- Session Descriptions:
- Session 1 by Dr. Kim
Part 1: The Random Walk of an Ant on a Cube
Part 2: The Island of Knights and KnavesConsider an ant moving randomly along the edges on a cube, which is constructed using one-unit-long craft sticks and play-doh (See the picture). The ant begins its journey at the green vertex and continues moving until it reaches the blue vertex (its destination) or potentially wanders indefinitely. In this session, we will investigate the probability that the ant never reaches the blue vertex along with other interesting questions. 
On the island of Knights and Knaves, each resident is either a Knight, who always tells the truth, or a Knave, who always lies. You encounter a group of islanders who have made statements about one another, with each statement being independent. How can we identify which individuals are Knights and which are Knaves? - Session 2 by Mr. Valencia
Full Student Engagement in Mathematics Classrooms
A mathematics classroom can provide effective lessons and activities, but without student engagement and buy-in, its impact may fall short. If full engagement isn’t there yet, don’t worry – it can be cultivated! In this pedagogy session, we will explore strategies to foster deep engagement in mathematics classrooms. Additionally, we will uncover a powerful method for solving quadratic functions without guesswork or memorization, which was discovered and used by the Babylonians about 2,000 years ago.
- Session 1 by Dr. Kim
Mathematics teachers of middle and high schools, college-level instructors, and preservice teachers at the middle and high school grade levels are all invited.
- Breakfast will be served at 9 am and lunch will be provided at noon to all participants.
- A certificate of participation will be given to all participants.
Past Events
Event 2 (AY 2024-2025)
- Time/Day: 6:20 pm - 7:40 pm on April 3 (Thursday), 2025
- Location: EMAGC 2.410
- Session Leader: Dr. Hyung Won Kim (Associate Professor of Mathematics Educaiton at UTRGV)
- Session Description:
- Part 1: The Random Walk of an Ant on a Cube
Consider an ant moving randomly along the edges on a cube, which is constructed using one-unit-long craft sticks and play-doh (See the picture). The ant begins its journey at the green vertex and continues moving until it reaches the blue vertex (its destination) or potentially wanders indefinitely. In this session, we will investigate the probability that the ant never reaches the blue vertex along with other interesting questions.
- Part 2: The Island of Knights and Knaves
On the island of Knights and Knaves, each resident is either a Knight, who always tells the truth, or a Knave, who always lies. You encounter a group of islanders who have made statements about one another, with each statement being independent. How can we identify which individuals are Knights and which are Knaves?
- Part 1: The Random Walk of an Ant on a Cube
Mathematics teachers of middle and high schools, college-level instructors, and preservice teachers at the middle and high school grade levels are all invited.
- A Day parking permit will be provided to all registered participatns.
- Dinner will be provided to all participants.
- A certificate of participation will be given to all participants.
Event 1 (AY 2024-2025)
- Time/Day: 9:30 AM - 12:45 PM on November 9, 2024
- Location: HCEBL 1.132 on Harlingen campus of UTRGV
- Two sessions will be held in during the first 2024-2025 RGV Math Circle.
- Session 1 (10:00 AM – 11:30 AM): The Locker Problem: An Open and Shut Case
- Session Leader: Gena Gregory (former high school teacher and PhD student at UTRGV)
- Description:The Locker Problem: An Open and Shut Case is an interactive and engaging activity designed to challenge participants' problem-solving skills and logical reasoning. Inspired by the classical locker problem in combinatorial mathematics, this activity presents a scenario where a group of individuals must navigate through a series of locker openings and closings to achieve a specific objective. Participants are tasked with devising strategies to determine the final status of the lockers (open or closed) after a sequence of operations. Through trial and error, logical deduction, and pattern recognition, participants explore the underlying principles governing the states of the lockers.
- Session 2 (11:45 AM – 12:45 PM): Creating Supportive Learning Environments in Math Classrooms
- Session Leader: Karina Araiza (high school teacher at PSJA ISD and a faculty member at the South Texas College)
- Description:The kernel of all knowledge is the human emotion of interest and perplexity. Creating a safe and supportive learning environment is crucial in every mathematics classroom. In the pedagogical reflection session (over lunch), we will explore strategies to prioritize building an atmosphere where students feel secure exploring, thinking critically, seeking knowledge, and, most importantly, communicating This supportive and encouraging environment will empower our students to thrive and succeed.
Mathematics teachers of middle and high schools, college-level instructors, and preservice teachers at the middle and high school grade levels are all invited.
- Both breakfast and lunch will be provided to all participants.
- A certificate of participation will be given to all participants.
May 2 (Thursday), 2024 - The Locker Problem: An Open and Shut Case!
- Time/Day: 5:30 PM - 7:45 PM on May 2, 2024
- Location: EMAGC 2.208 on Edinburg campus of UTRGV (This room is in the mathematics building on the Edinburg campus, not in the Education Complex.)
- Session Leader: Gena Gregory (former high school teacher and PhD student at UTRGV)
Description: The Locker Problem: An Open and Shut Case" is an interactive and engaging activity designed to challenge participants' problem-solving skills and logical reasoning. Inspired by the classical locker problem in combinatorial mathematics, this activity presents a scenario where a group of individuals must navigate through a series of locker openings and closings to achieve a specific objective. Participants are tasked with devising strategies to determine the final status of the lockers (open or closed) after a sequence of operations. Through trial and error, logical deduction, and pattern recognition, participants explore the underlying principles governing the states of the lockers.
Mathematics teachers of middle and high schools, college-level instructors, and preservice teachers at the middle and high school grade levels are all invited.
- Dinner will be provided to all participants.
- A certificate of participation will be given to all participants.
April 4 (Thursday), 2024 - Engaging Mathematics Through Games: From SET to Tic Tac Toe
- Time/Day: 5:30 PM - 7:45 PM on April 4, 2024
- Location: EMAGC 2.208 on Edinburg campus of UTRGV (This room is in the mathematics building on the Edinburg campus, not in the Education Complex.)
- Session Leader: Vicent Valle (former high school teacher and PhD student at UTRGV)
Description: An Immersive exploration into educational mathematical games and activities. This session will delve into multiple classroom activities with mathematical underpinnings such as: an unexpected presentation of Tic Tac Toe, the combinatorial mathematics behind the card game SET, and the intriguing squarable numbers . Each activity is aimed at demonstrating powerful mathematical ideas in an accessible and engaging way.
Mathematics teachers of middle and high schools, college-level instructors, and preservice teachers at the middle and high school grade levels are all invited.
- Dinner will be provided to all participants.
- A certificate of participation will be given to all participants.
May 2, 2023 - Martin Numbers!!
- Time/Day: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM on May 2, 2023 (Tuesday)
- Location: EMAGC 2.208 on Edinburg campus of UTRGV (This room is in the mathematics building on the Edinburg campus, not in the Education Complex.)
- Session Leader: Mr. Joseph Alanis (Lecturer of Mathematics at UTRGV)
In this session, the participants will explore base addition and subtraction using Martian numbers via a discovery learning activity. Through the activity, the participants will be guided to develop the concept of regrouping (carrying over) numbers in any base. The participating teachers will discuss how to instill growth mindsets into the students frustrated with learning mathematics.
Mathematics teachers of all grade levels (including elementary school levels) are invited.
- Dinner will be provided to all participants.
- A certificate of participation will be given to all participants.
March 29, 2023 - Revisiting Algebraic Operations for Secondary Teachers!
- Time/Day: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM on March 29, 2023 (Wednesday)
- Location: EMAGC 2.202 on Edinburg campus of UTRGV
- Session Leader: Mr. Joseph Alanis (Assistant Professor of Math Education at UTRGV)
In this session, the participants will explore the relational structures of additive, multiplicative, and compositional inverses and identities that are commonly used in secondary mathematics by revisiting basic properties of the set of symmetries. The participants will do hypothetical teaching scenario tasks to apply these ideas to teaching.
Martian Numbers: In this session, the participants will explore base addition and subtraction using Martian numbers via a discovery learning activity. Through the activity, the participants will be guided to develop the concept of regrouping (carrying over) numbers in any base. The participating teachers will discuss how to instill growth mindsets into the students frustrated with learning mathematics.
Mathematics teachers of all grade levels (including elementary school levels) are invited.
MAY 5, 2022 - Gerrymandering in Texas?
“The biggest blow to Texans’ voting rights isn’t found in the election laws. It’s in the political maps, where voters’ choices are overwhelmed by the partisan desires of politicians” (Ramsey, 2022). Gerrymandering? Are the boundaries of an electoral constituency being manipulated so as to favor one party? Let’s find out! The participants will be given different scenarios that force them to gerrymander congressional districts using squares of two different colors to represent the population.
Ramsey, R. (2022, April 20). Analysis: Gerrymandering has left Texas voters with few options. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/20/texas-redistricting-elections/
APRIL 11, 2022 - Calculating the probability of a public health crisis.
Mathematics is an incredible tool to better understand the world. In this math circle session, you will work with other participants to model the probability of a looking public health crisis. By working through this problem, you will see how public health officials mathematically weigh risks and create policy.
The facilitators will be Brendan Kelly and Jeffrey Gittleman, both of Harvard University.
MARCH 22, 2022 - Hyperbolic Soccerball
We are all familiar with the basic Euclidean geometry of the plane, including the behavior of parallel lines and angles in triangles. This familiarity may lead us to that it is a law of nature that parallel lines are always the same distance apart and the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180°. The goal of this activity is to explore a space where these familiar results are false.
We will build a two-dimensional model of hyperbolic space, and study the behavior of lines and triangles in our model.
Supplies and a description of the activity can be found here.