Mathematician and motivational speaker, Rob Eastaway, visited Highfields to inspire students with an interactive workshop.
The school won a Twitter competition to secure the visit from the famous mathematician, who has written many books aimed at popularising Mathematics.
He delivered his workshop, called ‘Back of Envelope Maths’, to 60 students from Year 10 and another 60 from Year 12.
The aim of the session - organised by Highfields’ Lead Practitioner for Mathematics, Miss L Green - was to teach students about Mathematics that is hidden in everyday life and the art of working things out when you are given little data.
She said: “The talk was about Fermi questions, the art of working things out when you aren't given any data. From working out the most efficient way to save energy, to a quick method for answering a vintage Who wants to be a Millionaire? question, Rob guided students through Maths that can be done on the back of an envelope.
“It was a really interesting workshop and made our students think of Mathematics in a way they had perhaps not done so before. Thank you so much to Rob for taking the time to speak to our students.”
Rob is Director of Maths Inspiration, a national programme of interactive lecture shows in theatres that has reached over 100,000 teenagers over the past ten years.
He was awarded the Zeeman medal in 2017 for excellence in the promotion of Maths.
