Celebration of International Day of Mathematics, 14 March 2021
The International Day of Mathematics aims to convey the love of mathematics to young people along with the message that mathematics is everywhere and is both useful and beautiful. In pandemic times the theme chosen is: Mathematics for a Better World. ASPnet schools around the world are invited to promote celebrations in their classrooms. Teachers are invited to work with their students to explore and learn more about Mathematics Day; carry out classroom enrichment activities proposed in several languages and share them on the website; share photos or videos and participate in a Poster Challenge by creating your own and submitting it here
Célébration de la Journée Internationale des Mathématiques, le 14 mars 2021
La Journée internationale des mathématiques vise à transmettre aux jeunes l'amour des mathématiques ainsi que le message que les mathématiques sont partout et qu'elles sont à la fois utiles et belles. En temps de pandémie, le thème choisi est : Les mathématiques pour un monde meilleur. Les écoles du réSEAU du monde entier sont invitées à promouvoir des célébrations dans leurs classes. Les enseignants sont invités à travailler avec leurs élèves pour explorer et en savoir plus sur la Journée internationale des mathématiques ; à réaliser des activités d'enrichissement de la classe proposées en plusieurs langues et à les partager sur le site web ; à partager des photos ou des vidéos et à participer à un Défi d'affiches en créant la vôtre et en la soumettant ici.
Celebración del Día Internacional de las Matemáticas, 14 de marzo de 2021
El Día Internacional de las Matemáticas pretende transmitir a los jóvenes el amor por las matemáticas y el mensaje de que las matemáticas están en todas partes y son útiles y bellas. En tiempos de pandemia el tema elegido es: Matemáticas para un mundo mejor. Se invita a las escuelas de la redPEA de todo el mundo a promover las celebraciones en sus aulas. Se invita a los profesores a que trabajen con sus alumnos para explorar y aprender más sobre el Día de las Matemáticas; a que realicen actividades de enriquecimiento en el aula propuestas en varios idiomas y las compartan en el sitio web; a que compartan fotos o vídeos y a que participen en un desafío de carteles creando el suyo propio y enviándolo aquí.
Celebration of International Day of Mathematics 2021
www.idm314.org
At its 40th General Conference in November 2019, UNESCO proclaimed 14 March as the
International Day of Mathematics. In 2020, more than 1000 celebrations in over 110 countries have
been announced, as well as official launches at UNESCO and the Next Einstein Forum. Many of these
events have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic. However, this great mobilization is a
testament to the enthusiasm generated by this initiative.
One of the aims of the International Day of Mathematics (IDM) is to convey the love of mathematics
to young people and the messages that mathematics is everywhere and that it is useful and
beautiful. In this time of pandemic, the theme chosen for IDM 2021 is:
Mathematics for a Better World
It is expected that public gatherings will still be banned in March 2021. For this reason, the
organising committee wants to promote celebrations in the classrooms. Teachers are invited to:
- Explain to their class that the planet is celebrating the International Day of Mathematics and
explore the theme on the site: https://betterworld.idm314.org/
- Carry out classroom enrichment activities around the theme, for example by using the
material proposed on the website in several languages:
https://www.idm314.org/organize.html,
- Register their activities on the site so that they appear on the IDM site map,
- Visit https://www.idm314.org and share photos or videos of their activities on the site and
on social networks,
- Take part in the poster competition for IMD2021: https://www.idm314.org/2021-poster-
challenge.html,
- Participate to the live coverage of March 14 (similar to https://www.idm314.org/launch-
2020.html),
- Subscribe to the IMD newsletter to receive all the information in the run-up to IMD 2021:
https://www.idm314.org/about.html,
- The logo already exists in 23 languages and more will be added as and when requested.
The Organizing Committee requests the assistance of UNESCO's Education Sector to reach out to all
schools affiliated to UNESCO and invite them to celebrate IDM 2021 and subsequent IDMs. As 14
March 2021 is a Sunday, it is understood that many schools will choose to celebrate on Friday 12
March 2021 or Monday 15 March 2021.
Contact: Christiane Rousseau
info@idm314.org
Some examples of thematic activities:
1. Fair sharing:
How can inheritance assets be divided equitably if not all heirs have the same
preferences? How can household chores or other types of chores be shared
fairly when the people who do the chores do not have the same dislikes? All
these problems are part of the theory of fair division for which the
mathematical field of game theory offers amusing solutions, the most famous
example of which is the fair cake-cutting problem.
2. Modelling the spread of an epidemic:
The population is divided into four compartments: the susceptible, the
infected, the recovered and the dead. The rules by which individuals move
from one compartment to another are modelled. By simulating the model, the
evolution of the epidemic can then be predicted.
3. Group screening:
To contain an epidemic, you have to test, test, test, which requires a lot of
resources. A simple way to save on testing is to test mixtures of samples from
subgroups of individuals. As soon as the test is negative on a mixture, all
individuals in the subgroup are known to be negative. Otherwise, each
individual in the subgroup is tested individually. This method involves
dividing the samples in half and doing two rounds of testing. You can do better
with only one round of testing! The activity will explore how.
4. And other activities that are simultaneously fun and
mathematically instructive