In Fall 2023, the Middle School Ellipse meets weekly on Fridays 3:20-4:50.
Fall 2023 Schedule:
This schedule is tentative and hence subject to change.
| Date | Topic |
| September 29 | Pancake Sorting |
| October 6 (Sukkot) | Harvest Heaps OR Prancing Pentominos |
| October 13 ( Global Math Week & Friday the 13th) |
Exploding Dots OR Friday the 13th Vacation |
| October 20 | TBD |
| October 27 | Guest Presentation from JRMF |
| November 3 | SBJFF Vacation |
| November 10 | TBD |
| November 17 | TBD |
| November 24 | Thanksgiving Vacation |
| December 1 | TBD |
| December 8 | TBD |
| December 15 | P3 - Pizza Puzzle Party |
Fall 2022 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| September 15 | Elliptical Explorations |
| Ellipse canceled due to migration to MathCounts group | |
2020-2022 Non-Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| to be filled in later | |
Winter 2020 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| January 6 | A Recipe to Infinity Plus More |
| January 13 | Olympiad #3 and Packing a Tie |
| January 20 | MLK Day - Optional Meeting MLK Adventure and Codes & Ciphers |
| January 27 | Expected Value and Alpha Star Contest |
| February 3 | Handshakes Across Tables |
| February 10 (Tu B'Shevat) | Olympiad #4 and Trees |
| February 17 | Presidents' Day - Optional Meeting A Presidential Proof |
| February 24 | Infinity & Beyond |
| March 2 | Beyond Infinity |
| March 9 (Erev Purim) | Olympiad #5 and Hamantaschen Math |
| March 16 | P3 - Pizza Puzzle |
Spring 2019 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| April 5 | Elliptical Explorations |
| April 12 | Coloring Space |
| April 19 | Problematic Probability |
| April 26 | Jumping Frogs |
| May 3 | AlphaStar Vacation |
| May 10 | Horologic |
| May 17 | Space-Filling Curves |
| May 24 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
| May 31 | No Meeting - ARML |
Winter 2019 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| January 10 | Quartering the Cross |
| January 17 | JMM Vacation |
| January 24 | Mathematical Billiards |
| January 31 | Puzzle Pieces |
| February 7 | AMC Vacation |
| Feb. 14 ~ Valentine's Day | Isomorphic Puzzles and Games and a Valentine Optical Illusion |
| February 21 | Mondrian Math |
| February 28 | Calendars |
| March 7 | JFF Vacation? |
| March 14 ~ Pi Day | π and Pascal's Triangle |
| March 21 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Fall 2018 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| September 27 - Sukkot | Banana Bunches |
| October 4 - Triangular Tau Day | Ellipses & Triangular Tau |
| October 11 - Global Math Week | Exploding Dots |
| October 18 | Splitting Piles |
| October 25 | Cube Coloring |
| November 1 | Cube Coloring & Jumping Spiders |
| November 8 | Disappearing Numbers |
| November 15 | Chip Firing |
| November 22 | Thanksgiving Vacation |
| November 29 | Knots and Not Knots |
| December 6 | Dreidel Math |
| December 13 | Refuting Claims |
| December 20 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Spring 2018 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| April 6 | Elliptical Explorations |
| April 12 & 13 | G4G Vacation |
| April 19 & 20 | Puzzles from G4G |
| April 26 & 27 | Map Coloring |
| May 3 & 4 | Donuts & Donut Holes |
| May 10 & 11 | KenKen |
| May 17 & 18 | Museum Guards |
| May 24 & 25 | Strong Induction on Museum Guards |
| May 31 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Winter 2018 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| January 4 | Olympiad #2 & Alternative Answers |
| January 11 | JMM Vacation |
| January 18 | Quick & Quaint Quadratics |
| January 25 | Olympiad #3 & Dividing Fractions |
| February 1 | Shapes of Numbers |
| February 8 | Induction |
| February 15 | Olympiad #4 & Tower of Hanoi |
| February 22 | A Presidential Proof |
| March 1 | canceled due to illness |
| March 8 National Proofreading Day |
Proofs & Spoofs |
| March 15 | Olympiad #5 & Poison Problems |
| March 22 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Fall 2017 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| September 14 | Elliptical Explorations |
| September 21 | Rosh HaShanah Vacation |
| September 28 | Gossip Networks |
| October 5 | Infinity & Beyond |
| October 12 | Exploding Dots |
| October 19 | Infinity Continued |
| October 26 | Square Fractals |
| November 2 | Lyin' & Tigers & Bears |
| November 9 | Difference Squares |
| November 16 | Olympiad #1 & AMC AfterMath |
| November 23 | Thanksgiving Vacation |
| November 30 | Omino Tiling |
| December 7 | Leftovers |
| December 14 | Olympiad #2 & P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Spring 2017 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| Friday, April 14 | Jumping Frogs |
| Wednesday, April 19 | No meeting - Skona traveling |
| Wednesday, April 26 | No meeting - Skona visiting a math circle |
| Friday, May 5 | SETting Up |
| Wednesday, May 10 | SET Geometry |
| Wednesday, May 17 | Coloring Graphs |
| Friday, May 19 | Pi R Square |
| Wednesday, May 24 | Coloring Space |
| Wednesday, May 31 | Omino Tiling |
| Wednesday, June 7 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Winter 2017 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| January 11 | Olympiad #3 and A Coin-Scale Puzzle |
| January 18 | Cake Cutting |
| January 25 | Different Differences |
| February 1 | Scale Puzzles & Ternary Numbers |
| February 8 | TBD |
| February 15 | Olympiad #4 and Math Circle Puzzle |
| February 22 | Metrics |
| March 1 | Spot-It Speculations |
| March 8 | Tower of Hanoi |
| March 15 | Olympiad #5 and Fibonacci Applications |
| March 22 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Fall 2016 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| September 28 | Elliptical Explorations |
| October 5 | Disappearing Numbers |
| October 12 | Yom Kippur |
| October 19 | Egyptian Fractions |
| October 26 | New York trip for Math Circle conference |
| November 2 | Electoral Explorations |
| November 9 | Semi-Regular Tessellations |
| November 16 | Olympiad #1 and Semi-Reg.Tess.(cont.) |
| November 23 | Thanksgiving Vacation |
| November 30 | Hyperbolic Soccer |
| December 7 | Dominos & Bridges |
| December 14 | Olympiad #2 and P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Spring 2016 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| April 13 | Getting SET |
| April 20 | Re-SETting |
| April 27 | Jumping Frogs |
| May 4 | Chocolate Logic |
| May 11 | Up & Over on Finite Grids |
| May 18 | Pi Are Square |
| May 25 | Up & Over on Infinite Grids |
| June 1 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) |
Winter 2016 Schedule:
| Date | Topic |
| January 20 | Elliptical Explorations |
| January 27 | A Recipe to Infinity |
| February 3 | Infinity in a Bucket |
| February 10 | Monkey Math |
| February 17 | Invariants |
| February 24 | -Omino Tiling |
| March 2 | Banana Math |
| March 9 | Pick's Theorem |
| March 16 | Ramsey Theory |
| March 23 | P3 (Purim Phractal Party) |
Fall 2014 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| October 3 | Pi Are Square | Skona |
Winter 2013 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| January 15 | Take Away Games | Skona |
| January 22 |
Triangles & Spheres | Skona |
| January 29 | Field Trip
to
UCSB Regents' Lecture |
Joe Marks |
| February 5 | Egyptian Fractions | Skona |
| February 12 (Lunar New Year & Lincoln's Birthday) |
Snake & Penny Puzzles & Moebius Hearts |
Skona |
| February 19 | Meeting Canceled | |
| February 26 | Spot It! | Skona |
| March 5 | Hyperbolic Soccer | Skona |
| March 12 | Hyperbolic Soccer Rebound | Skona |
| March 19 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |
Fall 2012 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| September 25 | Elliptical Explorations | Skona |
| October 2 |
Equation Times | Skona |
| October 9 | Meeting Canceled due to 6th-Grade Trip | |
| October 16 | Picking Points | Skona |
| October 23 | Lost Hikers | Skona |
| October 30 | Lyin' & Tigers | Skona |
| November 6 (Election Day) |
Voting Methods | Skona |
| November 13 | The AMC 8 Contest | Skona |
| November 20 (B.Mandelbrot's Birthday) |
Fractal Fun | Skona |
| November 27 | Puzzle Pieces | Skona |
| December 4 | Colors of Shapes | Skona |
| December 11 | Dodecamania | Skona |
| December18 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |
Spring 2012 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| April 5 | Fair Play in Pair'a'dice | Skona |
| April 12 | Triskaidekamania Revisited | Skona |
| April 26 | The Rainbow After the Storm | Skona |
| May 3 | Topological Invariants | Skona |
| May 10 | Financial Math (at UCSB) | Mike Ludkovski |
| May 17 | Topological Invariants (cont.) | Skona |
| May 24 | This Week Has No Topic | Skona |
| May 31 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |
Winter 2012 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| Jan. 5 | Making Change | Skona |
| Jan. 12 | Triskaidekamania | Chans |
| Jan. 19 | Handy Tools | Skona |
| Jan. 26 |
Lindenmayer Systems | Skona |
| Feb. 2 | The Pigeonhole Principle | Skona |
| Feb. 9 | Field Trip to a Robotics Lab | Brian Satzinger |
| Feb. 16 | A Presidential Proof | Skona |
| Feb. 23 | A-MAZE-ment | Skona |
| Mar. 1 | Calendars | Skona |
| Mar. 8 (Purim) | Hamantaschen Math | Skona |
| Mar. 15 | Induction | Skona |
| Mar. 22 | Folding Squares | Skona |
Fall 2011 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| Sept. 1 | Elliptical Explorations | Skona |
| Sept. 8 | The Measure of All Things | Skona |
| Sept. 15 | Egyptian Fractions | Skona |
| Sept. 22 |
Semiregular Tessellations | Skona |
| Sept. 29 | Rosh Hashanah Vacation | |
| Oct. 6 | Reflections & Rotations | Skona |
| Oct. 13 (Sukkot & MB Yz.) |
Pythagorean Trees | Skona |
| Oct. 20 | Number Play Time | Skona |
| Nov. 3 | Field Trip to the 4th Dimension | A Ghost Lecturer |
| Nov. 10 | Preparation for AMC 8 & 11 | Skona |
| Nov. 17 (Nat'l. Game Week) |
Game Theory | Skona |
| Nov. 24 | Thanksgivng Vacation | |
| Dec. 1 | Game Theory (continued) | |
| Dec. 8 | Pecking Order | Skona |
| Dec. 15 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |
Spring 2011 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| April 20 | Domino & Triomino Tilings | Skona |
| April 27 |
Fun with Multiple Choice | Skona |
| May 4 | Shapes of Numbers | Skona |
| May 11 | 1 = 0 | Skona |
| May 18 | Problematic Probability | Skona |
| May 25 | Colors of Shapes | Skona |
| June 1 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |
Winter 2011 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| January 12 & 13 | New Year Puzzles | Skona |
| January 19 & 20 (Tu B'Shevat) |
Tracing Trees | Skona |
| January 26 | Picking Points | Skona |
| February 2 & 3 (Chinese New Year) |
Raising Rabbits | Skona |
| February 9 & 10 | Puzzle Pieces | Skona |
| February 23 & 24 | AMC Vacation | |
| March 2 | Getting ReSET | Skona |
| March 9 | Finite Sums via Finite Differences | Skona |
| March 16 | A Recipe to Infinity | Skona |
| March 23 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |
Fall 2010 Schedule:
| Date | Topic | Presenter |
| October 1 | Elliptical Explorations | Skona |
| October 8 | Thinking Outside the Box | Skona |
| October 15 | Ellipsing the Square | Skona |
| October 22 | About Finite Things | Max Weiss |
| October 29 | Lyin' & Tigers | Skona |
| November 5 | Donuts & Donut Holes | Skona |
| November 12 | Veterans Day Vacation | |
| November 19 | 1,10,11 | Skona |
| November 26 | Thanksgiving Vacation | |
| December 3 | Getting SET | Skona |
| December 10 | TBA | TBA |
| December 17 | P3 (Pizza Puzzle Party) | Skona |