Yr 10 maths in action trip 1

On the 10th March 2008, twenty Year 10 boys went to the Imperial College to attend some lectures concerning Maths. Arriving at the college after travelling by train, the boys quickly took their seats moments after Dr Simon Singh had begun his lecture.

 Yr 10 maths in action trip 2

Simon was speaking about the power of maths, and specifically puzzles, riddles and brainteasers. He showed various examples of puzzles which were seemingly unsolvable, but with very simple solutions, which illustrated the diverse ways that mathematical thinking could be used.

After a short break, the boys were introduced to Nadia Baker who spoke about code-breaking and in particular, the Enigma machine. Nadia even showed the audience a real Enigma machine which was fully functional.

A lunch break followed. Shortly afterwards, a teacher from a visiting school delivered a lecture aptly named "Maths Party". Here he showed his audience various tricks to impress people at parties. Finally, Marcus du Sautoy spoke of prime numbers and their significance. The outing was designed to be informative and fun, but the speakers involved also encouraged the use of maths and showed the incredible usefulness of maths in the real world.