Scientific Mediation

Join us on board the Maths Caravan for the first outreach project run by the University of Neuchâtel’s maths institute!

Some people think that maths is all about hermetic and boring calculations, because of their sometimes disastrous school experience. The Maths Caravan was created to show that there’s a lot more to the word than that!

Learning by being surprised, by having fun or by playing – isn’t that a marvellous teaching tool for sweeping away prejudices about a subject hastily judged to be too theoretical or too far removed from reality?

Thanks to our various activities, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the world of maths, discovering for some and delving deeper for others, the following areas:

Geometry
Graph theory
Probability
Arithmetic

There’s something for every taste, age and level!

Are you interested?

We’d be happy to come to your school and show you one of our activities, which can be integrated into an educational path recommended by the PER.

Geometry

In a single stroke of the scissors (French only)

Did you have any idea that you could give any polygonal shape to a sheet of paper folded according to a certain method? Put yourself in the shoes of a mathematician and then a magician to understand and perform this demonstration yourself!

Recommended age: 9-15 years

The mysteries of the grid (French only)

In this fun and dynamic activity, you’ll discover a formula for calculating the area of even the most irregular polygons!

Recommended age: 13-15 years

Graph theory

The seven bridges of Koenigsberg (French only)

Visiting a city in the best possible way is no easy task. The town of Königsberg in Prussia is a good example. How can you leave your hotel and visit the city’s seven bridges without going over the same one twice, and returning to your hotel the same evening? Leonhard Euler was the first to answer this question by creating the theory of graphs.

Recommended age: 12-20

Probability

Non-transitive dice (French only)

Have you ever dreamt of having the odds on your side and a mathematical strategy to make sure you win against your opponent? That’s what this dice game activity is all about!

Recommended age: 12-20

Arithmetic

Magic square (French only)

Would you like to impress your friends and family by filling in a grid at breakneck speed, with every row, every column and every long diagonal having the same value? We’d be delighted to come to your classroom for a fun lesson to teach your pupils how to construct a magic square.

Recommended age: 12-15 years

Each activity is flexible in terms of time and age, so don’t hesitate to contact us for more information!