The Mathematics of GPS

Geolocation is a technology we use every day, often without realizing it.

From car navigation to mapping and fitness apps, to logistics and sea rescue, the ability to determine the location of an object or person in space plays a fundamental role in everyday life and in science and technology.

The GPS Mathematics Summer School is designed for high school students in their first three years. The program offers a laboratory experience combining mathematics and programming, which participants will develop in working groups.

A game to understand how a mathematical model is born

The journey starts with the educational game “Find the Treasure”, implemented through an application that poses a very complicated problem: finding a submerged object based on experimental data.

This context becomes the starting point for a mathematical modeling course in which participants will learn to describe and interpret real-world situations using mathematical tools.

From a mathematical perspective, the work will focus on the canonical ellipse and parametric curves. These concepts will be introduced and explored first in a practical manner, and then further explored theoretically.

An in-depth study of geolocation applications will reveal how the mathematical concepts used in the game “Find the Treasure” relate to the principles that make modern location technologies, such as GPS, possible.

App Development with MIT App Inventor

In parallel, participants will be guided in the use of MIT App Inventor (https://appinventor.mit.edu/), a block-based programming educational platform that allows you to create applications intuitively.

At the end of the Summer School, the final product will consist of:

• a customized version of the “Find the Treasure” application;
• a project report that documents the work process, ideas, and solutions developed.

What skills will you work on?

Mathematical skills

• Analyze and build models of extra-mathematical situations.

Transversal skills

• Manage complexity, reflect critically, and make informed decisions.
• Work in a team and communicate constructively and effectively.

Digital competence

• Creare contenuti digitali.
• Utilizzare tecnologie digitali a supporto della creatività.

Program