The next lecture as part of the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences’ Children’s University will take place on 3 December 2014. Prof. Dr Achim Kehrein, Professor of Applied Mathematics, will be giving a child-friendly lecture on ‘Mathematics to colour in, cut out and touch’. Admission is free. The lecture begins at 5.15 pm in the Audimax at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Kleve, Marie-Curie-Straße 1.
Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 26 November 2014: People used to believe that the Earth was flat, and were afraid of falling off the edge of the disc. Today we know that the Earth’s surface is spherical: if you keep walking in the same direction, you’ll end up back where you started. The Earth’s surface has no edge.
One branch of mathematics deals with different types of surfaces and shapes. For example, there are surfaces with edges and surfaces without edges, or three-dimensional objects such as a cube. In a cube, all six faces are squares of equal size, and all edges and corners look the same. Are there other solids in which all corners, edges and faces look the same? And why do mathematicians study shapes at all?
In this session, as part of the Children’s University, the children will make what is known as a Möbius strip. This is a surface with a boundary which, unlike an ordinary sheet of paper, has no front or back, but only one side. By simply colouring it in, the children will even prove this single-sided nature for themselves. Afterwards, the children will learn how to make four-sided, eight-sided or twenty-sided ‘cubes’. The craft cardboard will be provided by the university. Children should bring a pair of scissors, a ruler, a set square, a compass, a pencil and a ballpoint pen, as well as some sticky tape from home.
The Children’s University
Through the Children’s University, Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences offers children aged between 8 and 12 the opportunity to develop a passion for the world of science through lectures (45 minutes) specially designed for them. Just like real students, they are given student ID cards. They sit in lecture theatres and can ask real professors all sorts of questions. The main difference from a proper degree course is that there are no exams to sit.
Get involved!
Children keen to take part in the Children’s University can attend either all the lectures or just a few. The current lecture timetable for the Children’s University can be viewed on the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences website at www.hochschule-rhein-waal.de. No registration is required for the lectures. Admission is free. Lectures start at 5.15 pm each day.
Many thanks to our partners and sponsors:
The Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences Children’s University was selected as part of the Operational Programme for North Rhine-Westphalia, co-financed by the ERDF under the Objective ‘Regional Competitiveness and Employment 2007–2013’.
