Navajo Nation Math Circles

Navajo Nation Math Circles (NNMC) project is about two years old.

Its goal is to develop and support the practice of problem solving and to deepen the understanding and enjoinment of mathematics among Navajo school children and their teachers.

Three components of the project:

• Math Circles at various schools

• Workshops for teachers

• Summer camp

By necessity, a Navajo Nation math circle has peculiar features:

• Run at a school for the school’s students

• Between the end of classes and the departure of activities buses

• Led by school teachers – and

THEY NEED SUPPORT

Three forms of support:

• Scripts for math circle sessions

• Visits by experienced math circle leaders

• Teachers Workshops

Two parts of a script:

• A student handout consisting of a good set of problems (which shouldn't be too short or too long)

• Notes for the teacher with

(a) solutions for all problems,

(b) discussion of mathematics which motivated the choice of problems,

(c) practical advice on how to run this particular session.

• Fall 2012 – Tatiana Shubin

• April 2013 – Amanda Serenevy

• December 2013 – Blake Thornton

Visits:

Fall 2012

• St Michael HS, St Michaels

• Chinle HS, Chinle

• St Michael MS, St Michaels

• Tsehootsoi MS, Ft Defiance

• Many Farms HS, Many Farms

St Michael HS Math Circle

St Michael MS Math Circle

Middle School Sessions

• 1. Splitting and Sharing• 2. Parity and Invariants• 3. Tiling and Coloring• 4. Triangles, Squares, Pyramids, and Cubes• 5. Fractions (Mediants, Farey Sequences) • 6. Beans, Piles, and Other Games • 7. The Game of SET • 8. The Game of SET and Finite Geometries • 9. Exploding Dots• 10. 36 Officers Problem • 11. AMC-8, 2011

High School Sessions

Eight sessions with the same topics as sessions 1-8 for middle schools.

• 9. Counting Squares (Pythagorean Thm; Area;

Numbers expressible as the sum of two

squares)

• 10. Invariants and Modular Arithmetic

• 11. Wilson's Thm; some algebra (factoring and

using it in mental arithmetic)

• 12. Chromatic Numbers

Diné College, Tsaile

Spring 2013Amanda Serenevy’s visit

• Ganado HS

• Many Farms HS

• St Michael HS

Fall 2013Blake Thornton’s visit

• Thoreau MS, NM

• Rough Rock HS

• Round Rock HS

• St Michael HS

Teachers Workshops (all hosted by Henry Fowler and Diné College)

• December 1, 2012 (Tatiana Shubin)

• April 20, 2013 (Amanda Serenevy)

• July 20, 2013 (David Auckly, Amanda

Serenevy, Tatiana Shubin)

• December 7, 2013 (Maggie Cummings,

Blake Thornton)

Henry Fowler and Amanda Serenevy leading a session

Summer Math Camp

Two- week nonresidential camp for middle and high school students

July 15-26, 2013,

Diné College, Tsaile, AZ

Typical day schedule:• 7:00 am – pick-up time (two locations, Many

Farms and Ft Defiance, both 1 hour drive)

• 8:00-10:00 – breakfast, cultural and math

activities

• 10-11:30 – math session

• 11:30-2:00 – lunch, cultural lessons and/or physical

activities

• 2:00-3:30 – math session

• 4:00 – buses departure

Playing SET

Building with Zome tools

A math session

Another math session

Learning names of shapes in Navajo

Cooking lunch in self-made solar ovens

At lunch

Friday specials:

• Morning: Math Wrangle

• Afternoon: Guest Speaker

Guest speakers:

• Robert Megginson, Professor of Mathematics and Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; one of only about 12 Native Americans who hold a PhD in mathematics.

• Commander John Herrington, the first tribally-enrolled Native American Indian Astronaut to fly in outer space. He docked the space shuttle to the International Space Station and became the first American Indian to walk in space during the space mission.

Guest speaker John Herrington

Guest speaker Bob Megginson with students and instructors

Support is provided by:

• MAA Tensor-SUMMA

• EAF

• AIM

• MSRI

• NSF

• Desjardins Blachman Foundation

Contact information

• Tatiana Shubin tatiana.shubin@sjsu.edu

• David Auckly dav@math.ksu.edu

• Henry Fowler henry_hf@hotmail.com

• Robert Klein kleinr@ohio.edu