Advanced Math Camp

The exciting world of Mathematics can often be classified into theory building and/or problem solving. Of course all mathematicians solve problems, while only a few are great theory builders. Theory building involves developing repeatable solution strategies that can be applied in problem solving and the building of structures that enable us to see patterns out of what appears to be chaos.

Furthermore, summer math courses and outside of classroom courses generally fall into one of two groups: acceleration or enrichment.

This Advanced Math Camp takes students in an exciting journey full of theory-building AND problem solving enrichment. It is designed to encourage children to embrace problem solving as an exciting and uplifting social activity.

Curriculum Content

• Place-value, decimal arithmetic, polynomials, and elementary counting strategies of finite sets of objects.

Example: Build the ordinary multiplication table for the digits 1 to 9. Among the 81 entries in the table there are 17 multiples of 5. Why? How many even numbers are there, and how many multiples of 3? What is the sum of the even numbers in the table. How many multiples of 6 are there, and how does counting them differ from counting the multiples of 5?

• Arithmetic in multiple bases. We are calling it Martian arithmetic as an example, which takes place in base 6. (Think of Martians as two-handed, three-fingered creatures.) Including arithmetic with fractional bases and negative bases (YES!!!).

Example:  Example:  Can you write the number 14 as a sum of powers   of -4? So 14 =a(-4)^2+b(-4)^1+c(-4)^0, for some digits 0<= a,b,c<=3

• The area model and use of polynomials in counting strategies

Example: Imagine 120 unit cubes glued together to form a 4 x 5 x 6 block. You’re looking at it from one corner. How many of the unit cubes can you actually see?

• KenKen Puzzle Strategies

About the Instructor: Dr. Harold Reiter. Professor of Mathematics, UNC Charlotte

• Dr Reiter is about to start his 56^th year of teaching. He has enjoyed teaching middle and high school students at camps in India, China and Indonesia during the past 12 years. He also enjoys coaching middle schoolers in MATHCOUNTS.

What's the class going to be like?

• Max of 15 students, min of 8.
• Suitable for students in grades 3 to 9. The problem sets will be individually tailored so all students will be challenged but not overwhelmed.
• Problems geared broadly towards competitions like MATHCOUNTS, AMC 8, AMC 10.
• Dr. Harold as the main teacher along with teaching assistants with a max student-teacher ratio of 4:1.
• Collaborative problem solving (students solve as a team). It's a collaborative approach where in addition to learning from their teachers, students also learn from each other.

Logistics and Pricing

Week of Aug 5th

Mon - Fri from 1PM - 4PM

$300 that includes Dr. Reiter's book on Competition Math Problem Solving

Location: 4200 McKee Road, Charlotte - 28270