Newswise — Thirteen high school students from north Mississippi arrived at the University of Mississippi earlier this week for a weeklong Summer MathCamp and walked right into what appeared to be a murder scene.
Yellow crime scene tape encircled an area just inside Hume Hall, home of the Department of Mathematics, and red tape outlined the spot where a body had supposedly been found. The setup provided a real-life situation and jump-started the camp where the rising juniors and seniors are learning how mathematics is used in everyday life.
"Math has a reputation of being a rather dry subject," said Tristan Denley, UM mathematics chair and a camp instructor. "We will introduce these students to a wide range of math skills, and hopefully the math will come alive and inspire them. We want the students to realize that math is useful in everyday, real life."
University Police Department sergeant David Mahaffey briefed the students on the known details surrounding the "death," including the time the body was discovered, as well as the temperature of the body when the coroner arrived. "We don't know if the deceased was pushed or if he fell from the second or third floor," Mahaffey told the students.
Applying Newton's law of cooling, the students are to determine the time of death, and, through other physics equations, be able to judge whether the death was an accident, suicide or murder, according to Denley. To help uncover clues, the students are slated to decode messages discovered on a USB drive. The encrypted codes are similar to those used on credit cards.
The crime scene exercise was inspired by the CBS television series "Numb3rs," a drama about an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles, Denley said. The camp experience is intended to inspire the students to choose college majors in such fields as science, mathematics and engineering.
Camper Antron McKay, a rising senior at Rosa Fort High School in Tunica, Miss., said he is excited about unraveling the mystery because he hopes to become an elementary math teacher or perhaps a crime lab technician. "Ever since I was young, I have loved math," he said. "This camp is providing us with real-world experience and it's a great opportunity."
UM's new Center for Mathematics and Science Education, funded through a $1.2 million gift from the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation in 2006, is sponsoring the camp. The center aims to improve math and science education across the state by fostering interaction between UM departments and K-12 public schools.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, which measures student achievement across the nation, recently ranked Mississippi 49th in mathematics preparedness for eighth-grade students.
The Hearin Foundation is named for the late Jackson business leader and philanthropist. The foundation has given generously to a number of initiatives at UM, including the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, a new UM Chair of Reading and the Hearin Center for Enterprise Science.
UM plans to hold additional Summer MathCamps throughout July, including another for high school students and two for middle-school students.
Besides Denley, other UM faculty serving as camp instructors are Peter Sukanek, chair and professor of chemical engineering; Barbara Dougherty, professor of curriculum and instruction; and Angela Barlow, associate professor of curriculum and instruction; as well as CMSE fellows Steve Case, Jennifer Fillingin, Shannon Harmon, Jessica Ivy, Julie James and Michael McCrory.
Video is available by contacting the source.
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