What is MEOW?
MEOW is a two-week summer camp focused on advanced mathematics,
designed for rising 6th to 9th graders. The camp will run four
days a week for four hours per day at Herbert Hoover Middle
School, with each session divided into a learning phase and a
project phase. Participants will explore cryptography, fractals,
and graph theory, gaining both theoretical understanding and
hands-on experience.
Throughout the camp, students will work in three groups, each
focusing on a different aspect of the final project, all
contributing to an overarching mystery—who stole the Dragon Curve
fractal collection? The City Design Group will use graph theory to
design a mathematically structured city, ensuring all roads,
connections, and hidden fractals meet specific constraints. The
Cryptography Group will apply modular arithmetic, ciphers, and
prime factorization to decrypt messages and uncover clues leading
to the thief’s identity. The Fractal Art Group will focus on
creating intricate fractal designs, using self-similarity and
recursion to reconstruct the stolen collection.
On the final day, all groups will come together for a showcase
event, where students will reveal the mystery’s solution, exhibit
their city designs, and present their fractal artwork to parents
and peers. This camp provides an engaging and collaborative
environment for young math enthusiasts to develop problem-solving
skills, think critically, and explore mathematics beyond the
standard curriculum—all while unraveling an immersive, interactive
math adventure.
