The 2021 Festival is moving online!
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The National Math Festival brings together some of the most fascinating mathematicians of our time to inspire and challenge participants of all ages to see math in new and exciting ways. The 2021 Festival will feature juicy talks, hands-on demos, art, films, performances, puzzles, games, children’s book readings, and more for all ages.
Events will take place December 2020 through March 2021, with a concentration of live, interactive online events during the Festival weekend, April 16-18, 2021. Click the red buttons below to register for each event.
February 2021 Events
Come and listen! The 2021 Mathical Book Prize winning authors will read from their lively new works of kids’ literature. Join the fun! The Young People’s Project hosts a game show in which students judge mathematicians on their charm and clarity explaining their favorite big ideas in mathematics.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 (1:00 – 2:00 pm ET): Mathical Book Prize 2021 Winners Announcement
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- Featuring live readings and Mathical award-winning authors
View event video & resources
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 (1:00 – 2:30 pm ET): What’s the Big Idea: A Game Show Featuring Students and Mathematicians
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- Hosted by Scarlitte Alameda, Shawn Bernier, and Cliff Freeman (The Young People’s Project)
View event video
Scarlitte Alameda
Scarlitte Ponce Alameda is a native of Salinas, California. She attended California State, Monterey Bay…
Shawn Bernier
Shawn Bernier is a College STEM Literacy Worker (CMLW) at the Young People’s Project and…
Cliff Freeman
Cliff Freeman is the Director of STEM Programs at The Young People’s Project and a…
Mathical Book Prize
Math is more than numbers and equations! The Mathical Book Prize is an annual award…
March 2021 Events
It’s almost time for NMF Live Online, coming up in a few short weeks. But first… two derring-do math performances! Join Rhys Thomas for juggling as you’ve never seen it before; and Brady Haran of Numberphile for whatever he thinks up next.
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 (1:00 – 2:30 pm ET): Believe-It-Or-Not, It’s Math (x2)
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- Rhys Thomas (Science Circus)
- Brady Haran (Numberphile YouTube Channel and Podcast)
Register for this event
Brady Haran
Brady Haran is a UK-based video journalist and filmmaker, and the creator of YouTube’s most…
Rhys Thomas
As a Seattle street performer in the late ’80s, Rhys Thomas created his Science Circus…
April 2021 Events
Join us for the 2021 National Math Festival, with hands-on, interactive activities for youth of all ages, plenty of booths to stroll around and pick up resources for math play at home or in the classroom, and engaging films and lively math talks to round out the program. Enjoy!
2021 National Math Festival:
NMF Live Online
Friday, April 16 – Sunday, April 18, 2021
Register for this event
NMF Live Online: Fascinating Math Talks
“The End of Space and Time: The Mathematics of Black Holes and the Big Bang”
Dr. Robbert Dijkgraaf (Institute for Advanced Study)
“Changing the ‘Face’ of Mathematics”
Dr. Erica Graham (Bryn Mawr College), Dr. Raegan Higgins (Texas Tech University), Dr. Candice Price (Smith College), and Dr. Shelby Wilson (Johns Hopkins University)
“Math Is Play!”
Dr. Emille Davie Lawrence (University of San Francisco)
“Numbers through Pictures: A Taste of the Geometry of Numbers”
Dr. Jesús De Loera (University of California, Davis)
“Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus”
Dr. Steven Strogatz (Cornell University)
“Math and the Movies”
Dr. Joseph Teran (University of California, Los Angeles)
Dr. Jesús De Loera
Dr. Jesús A. De Loera is Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Davis….
Dr. Robbert Dijkgraaf
Dr. Robbert Dijkgraaf, Director and Leon Levy Professor of the Institute for Advanced Study in…
Dr. Erica Graham
Dr. Erica Graham is an assistant professor of mathematics at Bryn Mawr College. She holds…
Dr. Raegan Higgins
Dr. Raegan Higgins is an associate professor of mathematics in the Department of Mathematics &…
Dr. Emille Davie Lawrence
Dr. Emille Davie Lawrence is Term Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at the University…
Dr. Candice Price
Dr. Candice Renee Price is an African-American mathematician and assistant professor at Smith College in…
Dr. Steven Strogatz
Dr. Steven Strogatz has blogged about math for the New York Times and has been…
Dr. Joseph Teran
Dr. Joseph Teran is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles….
Dr. Shelby Wilson
Dr. Shelby Wilson is Senior Data Scientist for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory….
NMF Live Online: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Film Screenings and Panels
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Film Room is your go-to for larger-than-life, math-inspired stories on the silver screen. You will also get to chat and dig deeper with panels and Q&As.
The Bit Player (2019)
Panel featuring Dr. Andrea Goldsmith, Dr. Mark Levinson, Dr. Ronald Rivest, Dr. David Tse
Hidden Figures (2016)
Panel featuring Dr. Erica Graham, Dr. Raegan Higgins, Dr. Candice Price, and Dr. Shelby Wilson
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016)
Panel featuring Dr. Kathrin Bringmann, Dr. David Eisenbud, and Dr. Ken Ono
NOVA
Math film TBD
NSF “We Are Mathematics” Video Contest Winners
National Science Foundation
Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani (2020)
Panel featuring Dr. Hélène Barcelo, Dr. Roya Beheshti Zavareh, Dr. Marissa Loving, and Dr. Marie-Francoise Roy
The Bit Player
In a blockbuster paper in 1948, Claude Shannon introduced the notion of a “bit” and…
Hidden Figures
Before a computer became an inanimate object and before Sputnik changed the course of history,…
NOVA / NOVA Education
NOVA is the most-watched prime time science series on American television, reaching more than four…
Secrets of the Surface
Filmed in Canada, Iran, and the United States, Secrets of the Surface examines the life and…
NMF Live Online: Activity Presenters
Join some of the world’s savviest math organizations for a tour-de-force of online fun! Meet math superstars, find your own math star to steer by, and just plain relax and enjoy.
Come prepared to learn, engage, laugh, grow, play, and be part of an exciting math community for kids and adults of all ages.
Hands-on, interactive activities are the name of the game. You can also expect puzzles, demos, super-short talks, mathletic events, art-making, and more.
Parents and teachers, pick up resources for math play at home and in the classroom. Kids and grown-ups, roll up your sleeves and dive into easy-access, creative, open math activities for all.
Natural Math
Natural Math is an international community that creates rich, playful, and meaningful mathematical experiences for…
The DREME Network
The DREME Network includes early childhood departments at Boston College, Columbia University Teachers College, New…
FUNDAPROMAT
The mission of the Panamanian Foundation for the Promotion of Mathematics (FUNDAPROMAT) is to promote…
NOVA / NOVA Education
NOVA is the most-watched prime time science series on American television, reaching more than four…
ThinkFun
Children love ThinkFun’s award-winning games, mobile apps, brainteasers, and logic puzzles, available online and through…
WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for…
Past Events: January 2021
Thank you to all who joined us in January for math, music, and theater, as we celebrated math and social justice through hip hop culture, the encouraging rhythms of rap, and the personality, persistence, and overcoming of obstacles of women in mathematics across the years.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 (1:00 – 2:00 pm ET): Math Rap (Double Feature)
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- Math Concert with the Music Notes
- Hip Hop Math with Professor Lyrical
View Event Recording and Resources: Math Rap Double Feature
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 (1:00 – 2:30 pm ET): “Witches of Agnesi” Play Performance (Live Streaming) and Panel Discussion
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- Dr. Susan Gerofsky (University of British Columbia)
- Dr. Moira Chas (Stony Brook University)
- Dr. Nancy Scherich (University of Toronto)
- Dr. Shelly Jones (Central Connecticut State University)
View Event Recording and Resources: Witches of Agnesi
Music Notes
Music Notes is an educational music company founded by teachers in Los Angeles, CA. Their…
Professor Lyrical
Professor Lyrical (Dr. Peter Michael Plourde) is a rap and spoken-word artist and educator known…
Witches of Agnesi
Witches of Agnesi is a play that brings together three women mathematicians—Maria Agnesi, Sofya Kovalevskaya,…
Past Events: December 2020
Math is more than numbers and equations! The Mathical Book Prize inspires kids of all ages to see math in the world around them through fiction and literary non-fiction. Everybody loves a good story: we have picture books to teen novels, and everything in between.
Join us by the fire (so to speak) for some cozy Mathical Book Prize live author readings. We are partnering with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) to ship Mathical Books ahead of time to kids in Title I schools so they are ready to meet these authors!
View Event Resources: December 2020 Mathical Events
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 (1:00 – 2:30 pm ET): Tweens and Teens Take on Mathical
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- SOLVING FOR M, by Jennifer Swender
- DK LIFE STORIES: KATHERINE JOHNSON, by Dr. Ebony Joy Wilkins
- SLAY, by Brittney Morris (*pre-recorded, with special live guests from #BlackInMathWeek)
Thursday, December 10, 2020 (1:00 – 2:00 pm ET): Little Ones Rule with Mathical
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- PIGEON MATH, by Asia Citro
- CAO CHONG WEIGHS AN ELEPHANT, by Songju Ma Daemicke
- NOTHING STOPPED SOPHIE, by Cheryl Bardoe
Asia Citro
Asia Citro has an M.Ed in Science Education and was a classroom science teacher for…
Cheryl Bardoe
Cheryl Bardoe is the author of Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain,…
Songju Ma Daemicke
Songju Ma Daemicke grew up in China. She is a former software engineer. Her book,…
Brittney Morris
Brittney Morris is the author of Slay. She is also the founder and former president…
Jennifer Swender
Jennifer Swender is a graduate of Yale University and received her master’s from Teachers College…
Ebony Joy Wilkins
Author Ebony Joy Wilkins, PhD, is a writer of children’s literature and professor of English…