Math Quest
This August, Math Quest welcomed 33 girls ages 13-17 to Queen's University for a week of mathematics, problem solving, creativity, and community.
The week began with an Amazing Race across the Queen's campus , where campers worked in teams to solve problems and puzzles. Over the days that followed, they encountered mathematics far beyond the school curriculum, with sessions exploring cryptology, logic and truth tables, matrices, mathematical music, game theory, physics, geometric constructions, and more.
There was plenty of time for community-building, too. A midweek Games at the Pub afternoon at Queen's Pub gave campers and tutors a chance to play games and socialize, while residential campers spent their evenings building friendships and experiencing life on campus. The week finished with a Mystery Party , as campers followed clues and solved interconnected puzzles and problems to uncover the final mystery.
The end-of-camp surveys suggest that the experience had a real impact. Sixty-one percent of campers reported a higher level of interest in mathematics after camp than before, while none reported a decrease. More than 90% said they had encountered areas of mathematics that were new to them, and 82% agreed that mathematics was more creative than they had previously thought.
The social side of Math Quest mattered just as much. Campers repeatedly named making friends, meeting other young people with similar interests, and learning from enthusiastic mathematicians and engineers among the most memorable parts of their week.
As one camper put it: "Math is an incredibly diverse subject with lots of interesting and fun branches."
RabbitMath
RabbitMath returned to Queen's University this August, bringing together 20 students ages 13-17 for a week of mathematical exploration, challenging problems, games, and new ideas.
The week got moving immediately with an Amazing Race across the Queen's campus . Working in teams, campers travelled between campus locations solving mathematical problems and puzzles along the way. her described it as "a creative way of giving the math puzzles, encased in a race around the campus"; another offered a more succinct recommendation for next year: "We need a race every day."
Throughout the week, campers explored probability, statistics, trigonometry, quadratics, number theory, four-dimensional geometry, mathematical "magic," creative problem-solving strategies, and applications of mathematics to the real world. A midweek Games at the Pub afternoon at Queen's Pub provided a chance to relax and socialize, and the camp finished on Friday with a Mystery Party filled with puzzles, problems, and clues.
RabbitMath campers arrived already enthusiastic about mathematics: 76% described themselves as very or extremely interested before the week even began. Nevertheless, 82% said the camp increased their interest in mathematics, science and/or engineering at least somewhat , and 82% agreed that the week had changed the way they thought about mathematics. Three-quarters or more also reported encountering new areas of mathematics and feeling more confident approaching unfamiliar problems.
Their written comments help explain why. Campers valued both the problems themselves and the chance to find a community of people who shared their interests. One camper highlighted "meeting and socializing with people who like math as much as me," while another wrote, "I love the math problems because it was satisfying to get a right answer after all the work."
That combination of curiosity, challenge, accomplishment, and community is at the heart of RabbitMath.