What is the Millennium Mathematics Project?

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The Millennium Mathematics Project (MMP) is a maths education and outreach initiative for ages 3 to 19 and the general public. The MMP is a collaboration between the Faculties of Mathematics and Education at the University of Cambridge, and is active nationally and internationally. Our focus is on increasing mathematical understanding, confidence and enjoyment, enriching everyone's experience of mathematics, and promoting creative and imaginative approaches to maths.

The project consists of a family of complementary programmes, including the very successful NRICH website, Plus online mathematics magazine, and face-to-face work with schools and the public:

Image: University of Cambridge / Nigel Luckhurst

NRICH

The NRICH website publishes thousands of free resources designed to challenge, inspire and engage ages 3 to 19. Teachers' resources support planning and help teachers promote rich mathematical thinking in the classroom. NRICH resources focus on problem-solving and take a low-threshold high-ceiling approach, building students' confidence, mathematical reasoning, thinking skills and ability to take the initiative.

Plus

Plus is a free online maths magazine aimed at the interested and intelligent general reader, including older students (16+). Lively, accessible and in-depth articles and podcasts explore all aspects of maths, ranging from what string theory predicts about hidden dimensions to mathematics in medicine. Meanwhile news items uncover the hidden maths behind media headlines and report news from the world of research.


Image: iStockphoto.com

Maths and Sport

To celebrate London 2012 we created free online resources exploring maths through the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 'Maths and Sport: Countdown to the Games' was a partner project in the London 2012 Get Set+ education programme. Resources include rich mathematical activities for Key Stages 1 to 5, articles, and video maths challenges produced with input from us by BBC Two Learning Zone. We also developed a small collection of activities on Maths and Football in collaboration with Arsenal in the Community.


Image: iStockphoto.com

Free online multi-media resource packs

Our long-running Motivate programme developed several free online multi-media resource packs for Key Stages 2 to 4, working with mathematicians from research and industry to explore maths in real and engaging contexts including medical research, healthcare and archaeology. The packs are based round video-clips of the expert speakers with accompanying investigative tasks, including worksheets and teachers' notes. Topics covered include Maths and Health (KS3/4), Disease Dynamics (KS4) and Babylonian Maths (KS2/3).


Our local activities include:

  • hosting the East of England Further Mathematics Support Programme - teaching, support and promotion of maths beyond GCSE, especially Maths and Further Maths A-level
  • Mathematics events in Cambridge throughout the year for schools, families and the general public, especially for the annual Cambridge Science Festival in March, and teacher professional development conferences
  • the STIMULUS programme, which creates over 250 placements each year for Cambridge student volunteers in local schools to assist with maths and science classes.

In the 2013/14 school year our web-based mathematical resources attracted more than 7.9 million visits from users worldwide and more than 32 million page views, while over 26,000 pupils and more than 5,500 teachers were involved in our face-to-face activities and events.

The MMP’s various programmes have won many awards and our resources have been repeatedly commended by the UK Government’s Department for Education. In 2006 the Queen presented the project with the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, honouring ‘outstanding achievement and excellence’ at world-class level.  

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