13/06/2023

IMPA welcomes students from public and private schools.

“I found it very fun, there are many cool things that help us learn”. This was the summary of the experience of student Maria Eduarda, 14 years old, when participating, this Tuesday (13), in IMPA Portas Abertas . More than 200 students, teachers from public and private schools and visitors were at IMPA headquarters, in Horto, for a program with lectures, activities and an exhibition about the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to win the Fields Medal .

In his welcoming remarks, the Director-General of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, highlighted the importance of looking at mathematics in a different way than it is learned in the classroom, and in a more playful manner.

“This is one of the most enjoyable initiatives we have here to bring mathematics and the institute closer to society, particularly to schools and students; the experience is wonderful. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it during the pandemic, but this year we're back in full force, and it's been great to welcome the schools and these kids with their eyes shining as they encounter mathematics from a slightly different angle than what they know in the classroom,” highlighted the director-general.

Viana also mentioned that she hopes to see the students enrolled in courses offered by the institute in the future. IMPA researcher Carolina Araujo gave a lecture on 'Algebraic Geometry', presenting concepts related to Kepler's Laws, Number Theory, and the relationship between geometry and algebra.

“We’ve become so accustomed to our scientific work, and suddenly speaking to the general public is quite challenging. I was surprised by some of the questions, but it’s very stimulating to have this dialogue with society. I’m also happy to see girls asking questions and participating; this shows that we are contributing to a welcoming environment where everyone can express themselves,” she emphasized.

Project scientist Lucas Nissenbaum gave a lecture titled "What movie to watch now?" and showed students how mathematics is applied in everyday life, even when choosing a movie to watch. He explained some of the workings of machine learning in movie recommendations.

“At school, we always had the impression that mathematics is about solving interesting numerical problems, but there are also things we see in our daily lives that are clearly mathematical problems. Who hasn't sat still watching television to choose a movie to watch? We have this issue of choosing what to watch, and that's a mathematical problem. What I want to show is how we can represent and solve this problem with mathematics. It's important to see that mathematics is everywhere.”

In addition to the lectures, the event also featured workshops led by professors Letícia Rangel, Sílvia Nunes, and Wanderley Moura, and by members of the IMPA Girls' Olympics (MOI) project, which seeks to encourage the participation of girls in STEM fields to increase female representation in areas such as mathematics, physics, and computer science.

MOI instructor Kathleen Oliveira, 26, presented a workshop on the Four Color Theorem, which is based on determining the minimum number of colors needed to color a map, imaginary or real, so that countries with a common border have different colors. "The children have a lot of fun, even though they rack their brains a bit to figure it out. But it's easier than doing a calculation or equation to arrive at the result."

Student Maria Eduarda Teixeira , 17, from CEL Intercultural School, said she was surprised by the visit. “It was all very cool and interactive. When we think about mathematics, we think of something archaic and rigid, and here we learned something different.”

Adriana Lopes, a mathematics teacher at the Charles Anderson Weaver School in Rio's North Zone, highlighted the importance of projects like this in demonstrating a more practical way to use mathematics. "In the classroom, we try to develop activities and skills in a more everyday and practical way, but we can't convey as much as they learned here. Today, a student told me that students should only learn mathematics this way. They develop logical reasoning, and mathematics opens our minds."

Jean Michel Pereira , a physics professor at the Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro (IFRJ) in Volta Redonda, explained that the decision to participate in the program came from the students. Bruno Rocha, 18, was one of the students who took the initiative to register the school for the event. “We talked to the school about transportation to come here and we signed up. The lectures were very interesting and I also really enjoyed the workshops.”

Arthur Roque, 18 years old, is also a student at IFRJ and when he heard about the idea of visiting the institute, he was immediately interested. “I thought it was really cool to come here, see the lectures, and participate in the workshops. The idea of getting out of the classroom and having material that provides a different perspective on what mathematics is is much more interesting.”