News Archive

An article about the Math Catcher Project titled Small Number: Breaking the Pattern and written by Veselin Jungic and Mark MacLean was published in the December 2011 issue of the Notes of the Canadian Mathematical Society, the Society's official newsletter. To access the aricle click here and follow the link for the section Education Notes.

Our attempt to visit the Bella Bella Community School didn't work out. On December 7, 2011, at 10:45am, a Math Catcher team, Alejandro Erickson, Jessica Humchitt, and Veselin Jungic, left Vancouver, B.C., and arrived to Port Hardy, B.C., one our later. It was a beautiful sunny day in Port Hardy, but there was a patch of thick fog over the Bella Bella airport and the flight to Bella Bella had to be delayed. Around 3:00pm we boarded the plane again and left for Bella Bella. We were told that the fog was still covering the airport but that the pilot would try to land, if possible. Well, he tried, but the fog was too thick and he turned the plane back to Port Hardy. The team arrived back to Vancouver around 6:00pm. 

Math Catcher will visit Bella Bella, B.C. in Spring 2012.

Ms. Laurie Ebenal, District Administrator for Aboriginal Education, has invited the Math Catcher Project to visit schools in School District No. 43 - Coquitlam. Ms. Terri-Mae Galligos, a resource teacher, will assist in organization of the program in ‘pilot’ schools.

In the SFU EDUC 320 (Instructional Psychology) class students did a specific context assignment paired with watching the film "Small Number and the Old Canoe." Alissa Bick Ehrenkranz, the course instructor, writes, "Although this purposing of art may horrify you, I am hoping that it demonstrates to my students a quest to engage education in creativity where ever the opportunity presents. I hope to see more Small Number adventures in the future."

The Aboriginal Students in Math and Science: Situations and Solutions workshop was held on November 8, 2011, in the IRMACS Centre. More than seventy participans from all levels of the British Columbia education system spent one day talking about various issues related to teaching and promoting mathematics to Aboriginal learners. The worksop included the world premiere of the animated movie Small Number and Old Canoe in the Squamish language.

On Friday, October 28, 2011, a medie release about the workshop Aboriginal Students in Math and Science was posted on the SFU website. The workshop is inspired and partly supported by the Math Catcher Project.

The Squamish version of the animated film "Small Number and the Old Canoe" has been completed and posted at http://vimeo.com/30688611. The narrator is T'naxwtn Peter Jacobs from the Squamish Nation. Enjoy!