Some History
The first SNAP type math fair was designed by Mike Dumanski and Andy Liu in 1997-1998. Mike was vice-principal of Our Lady of Victories Elementary School, and Andy was a professor in the Math Department at the University of Alberta. Andy has won many national and international teaching awards, and is well-known for making mathematics exciting for children. The staff at Our Lady of Victories found that the typical science fair was too competitive and that parents were the ones who did most of the project. They approached Mike about doing another activity, and Mike thought they could do something with math. "I really didn't know where to go, so I called the University of Alberta and they put me in touch with Andy." Andy and Mike then worked out a set of guidelines for the math fair, and these are essentially the ones that we have been using ever since.
At the same time, Jim Timourian was the undergraduate chair in the mathematics department at the University of Alberta, and he was worried about the state of Math 160, a math course that was offered to preservice Elementary teachers. Ted Lewis was slated to teach the course in the second term. At a meeting with Andy and Ted, it was suggested that the students in Math 160 could do a math fair for themselves.
By coincidence, Ted had contact with a teacher at Parkallen Elementary School. A deal was struck that the Math 160 students would bring their math fair to Parkallen school, and that in return, the Parkallen students would hold their own math fair and invite their parents. The math fairs at Our Lady of Victories and Parkallen were unbelievably successful, and since then a large number of schools in the Edmonton region have adapted the SNAP math fair to their needs. The SNAP program has been spread through workshops and conferences, and mainly by teachers themselves.
At the same time, Jim Timourian was the undergraduate chair in the mathematics department at the University of Alberta, and he was worried about the state of Math 160, a math course that was offered to preservice Elementary teachers. Ted Lewis was slated to teach the course in the second term. At a meeting with Andy and Ted, it was suggested that the students in Math 160 could do a math fair for themselves.
By coincidence, Ted had contact with a teacher at Parkallen Elementary School. A deal was struck that the Math 160 students would bring their math fair to Parkallen school, and that in return, the Parkallen students would hold their own math fair and invite their parents. The math fairs at Our Lady of Victories and Parkallen were unbelievably successful, and since then a large number of schools in the Edmonton region have adapted the SNAP math fair to their needs. The SNAP program has been spread through workshops and conferences, and mainly by teachers themselves.