MTH111M 26-27

Mathematics is a science as well as an art, and college mathematics education does not provide enough opportunities to witness the artistic side of mathematics!

Create a beautiful animation using Desmos Graphing Calculator that depicts a story, scenery or some motion effect using mathematical functions alone!

Website for Desmos Graphing Calculator: https://www.desmos.com/calculator

Instructions:

1) Form teams of size 3-5 and appoint one member of the group as Team Leader.

2) You need to create two beautiful animations that fit in the following two regions respectively:

Rectangular region: Add equations x=10, x=-10, y=10, y=-10 in the first 4 equation slots.

Rhombic region: Add equations x+y=10, x+y=-10, x-y=10, x-y=-10 in the first 4 equation slots.

3) The fifth equation should be a slider for variable h ranging from -10 to 10 for both regions. There is only one slider you can use per animation.

4) The second animation should depict the same storyline, but not necessarily the same story, as the first animation. It is allowed to submit rotated/translated/dilated version of the first one so that it first the region. (We want to test your ability to manipulate functions!)

5) The animation should cover majority of the space in both regions, but should not exceed the boundaries of the regions.

6) For each region, the total number of equations should be between 10 and 20.

7) For each region, there should be at least 4 equations containing the slider variable h.

8) Preferably, you do the animation all by yourself. However, in case you use it, make sure that AI is not the mastermind behind the animation. The instructors reserve the right to ask any questions regarding the animation to any team members.

9) Name your animation!

Submission:

Make a 30 seconds long recording of a laptop/tablet screen (not phone screen) that satisfies the following criteria:

1) First 15 seconds of the video should show an animation in the Rectangular region with all equations (Equation 5 onward) visible on the left hand side of the screen.

2) The next 15 seconds of the video should show the same animation modified (rotated, translated and/or dilated) to fit in the Rhombic region with all equations (Equation 5 onward) visible on the left hand side of the screen.

Upload the video on YouTube as an unlisted video.

Link for submission: MTH111M: Beautiful Animation using Desmos – Fill out form

Deadline for submission: 11pm on 23 August 2026

Maximum marks: 5 (all team members will get the same score)

What are we looking for?

Creativity, originality, beauty and harmony achieved via teamwork and collaboration demonstrating command over functions!

Support:

Desmos help videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9B0hQYfziw&list=PLfM6zMGnbgOFOUZuxCssrbHdEkXBqa7nb

If your Team Leader belongs to Section Y (where Y could A,B,C or D) then for any questions (not related to creativity) you might have, the Teams Leaders can get in a call with the Section Leaders on Tuesday, 18 August at 9pm:

Section A Leader: Siddheswar Kundu

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/mzd-wgfm-pbn

Section B Leader: Jyoti

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/mkm-hoea-odf

Section C Leader: Dibyendu Biswas

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/tif-hxti-bwf

Section D Leader: Debattam Das

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/ppk-tfsy-nwt

Best Animations

MINKOWSKI MEDDLERS

Ashna Raj

Ashritha Aryapu

Aiswarya N

Haana Nafis

Shivangi Soni

https://youtu.be/fFCvWhpVLEA

DESMOS PROS

Taib Rehman

Krishna Bidasar

Mohammed Shahzaib

Sameer Singh

https://youtu.be/3oFW4S5582A?si=flU8qUkIdiHfaBqf

Energy Conservers

Akshat Om

Akshat Goel

Advet Patel

Abdul Rehman Mustafa

Mohd Mohib Jamal

https://youtu.be/WJxCgi-m13k

Graph Ninjas

Shashank Kumar Singh

Rythm Arora

Vaibhav Pandey

Nirbhay Singh Rathore

Shashank Vishwakarma

https://youtu.be/AR7MDiOAPFg?si=DTvPS6sFQfScWfcv

Pi Explorers

Mohit Chandra

Divyanshu Bora

Pratishtha

Ashish

Sharanbasava

https://youtu.be/SNWG65QXNi8?si=gJOe-UzvPm8AcNZ5

Rebirth

Ojas Jain

Himani Saini

Ritojyoti Debnath

Subhav Chamadiya

Vipul Mittal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kneovqSdWdk

Calculus was not invented just to derive Newton’s laws of motion. In fact, it has proven to be an indispensable tool in all fields encompassing human life. The goal of this activity is to allow you to discover one of its numerous applications that have shaped human history. All of you will be working in teams on a project of creating a video as well as a report on a topic of historic significance where Calculus was the hero!

TIMELINE

Monday-Wednesday: Team gathering and project topic research

Tuesday (1 September), 9pm: Google Meet with Theme Leaders to clear doubts

Wednesday (2 September), 8pm: Team details submission with ranked theme preferences

Wednesday (2 September), 11pm: Project theme assignment to teams

Sunday (6 September), 11pm: Final Submission

THEMES

Physics and Astronomy: Siddheswar Kundu

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/onw-miej-prh

Chemistry and Biology: Jyoti

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/mkm-hoea-odf

Engineering: Dibyendu Biswas

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/tif-hxti-bwf

Art and Ancient Indian Contributions to Mathematics: Debattam Das

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/ppk-tfsy-nwt

Economics and Finance: Ayush Gupta

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/iuq-vcrr-dhv

Some references (only suggestive, and no compulsion to use them): Folder

Project Topic Selection

• Choose a project topic that belongs to one of the 5 broad themes listed above.

• The project must be historically significant, with its significance justified in the report and video, and must have had an impact on human society.

• The project topic must belong to the pre-2000 era. In particular, AI/ML is NOT allowed as the topic of the project.

• The project must not be directly copied from the syllabus of courses offered at IIT Kanpur or at high school level.

• Although the course focuses on single-variable calculus, multivariable calculus may be used if required by the project.

• Each theme leader will accept only the first 26 submissions.

• Topic selection is on a first-come, first-served basis: early birds get their first preferences. (Check EXPRESSION OF INTEREST below!)

• The details of ALL team members must be submitted using one of the following forms.

Team Formation

• Form a team of 10–13 students. Each team must choose a team name and a team leader.

• Do not discuss project topics with other teams. Any plagiarism/collaboration between teams will result in both teams losing marks.

• Every team and student can submit a project under exactly one theme.

• Team leaders are encouraged to meet with the corresponding theme leaders on Tuesday, 1 September at 9pm for questions or clarifications.

Team Composition (Recommended)

Content Creators (3–4 students): Historical research and drafting the 2-page report.

Script & Storyboarders (3–4 students): Turning the report into a punchy video script.

Media Production (3–4 students): Recording audio, creating visual slides/animations, and editing the video.

Quality Assurance (1 student): Running the AI Audit, verifying mathematics, and handling the final submission.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM (Deadline: Wednesday, 2 September, 8pm)

Link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/NVtM6akMEP

The form asks for Team Name, Roll Numbers of all Teammates, and a ranked preference order of themes.

Based on the timestamp of submission and availability, each Team will be assigned a Theme on 2 September (Wednesday) at 11pm.

Early submissions are guaranteed to get their First Preference, but late submissions may not.

Late submissions will carry a penalty of 4 marks!

Your team will be assigned a theme in an email on Wednesday at 11pm.

FINAL SUBMISSION (Deadline: Sunday, 6 September, 11pm)

WHAT TO SUBMIT?

A. AI Audit of the Idea (1 mark)

• We encourage you to interact with AI, but in a specific way. 

• Do your research to find a project topic.

• Copy paste all the activity related instructions on the webpage in a fresh chat with an AI model. 

• Write your idea of the report and video IN YOUR OWN WORDS in the chat along with the prompt: Please give me suggestions for improvement. 

• Copy paste your prompt as well as the response from the AI model in a PDF file. 

• Upload this PDF file to Google Drive and share a link in the submission form.

• Ensure your Google Drive link permissions are set to 'Anyone with the link can view' before submitting!

• The audit will be checked against the submitted report to verify consistency.

B. Report (4 marks)

• Length: exactly 2 pages of report content + A list of references on the 3rd page (MUST).

• Formatting: Times New Roman, Size for main text: 10 pt.

• References must be legitimate sources: published books, research papers, articles, monographs, or reliable websites.

• Wikipedia and AI-generated sources are NOT allowed as references.

• The report should contain 3 parts: 1) Introduction, where you explain the history and statement of the main problem where Calculus was used. 2) Main Body, where you can explain the solution to the problem, possibly including all contributors. This part can also include mathematical calculations. 3) Conclusion, where you briefly explain the effect of the solution on human society, and why Calculus is the hero.

• The report must clearly show that “Calculus is the Hero”.

• It is OK to not understand all the mathematics that was used in the calculus application that you are working on!

• Upload the Report as a PDF file to Google Drive and share a link in the submission form.

• Ensure your Google Drive link permissions are set to 'Anyone with the link can view' before submitting!

C. Video (5 marks)

• Duration: MUST be between 2:50–3:10 minutes.

• The first screen of the video must contain the project title and the names + roll numbers of ALL team members.

• Format may be slides (PPT/Beamer), video footage, animation or a combination. If presenting a PPT, a person could be shown standing or voice-over is also OK.

• Landscape mode only; shorts/reels format is not allowed.

• The video must contain recorded sound. Team member(s) should provide voice-over/narration where appropriate, including for experiments, if applicable.

• Every team member must appear at least once in the video (either appearing separately or included in a Team picture and show it as the final screen of the video).

• Experiments, demonstrations, field footage, or other relevant original footage may be included.

Late submissions will carry a penalty of 4 marks!

Link for Final Submission: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/K4LUs0jUDA

Attraction:

Selected best submissions will be showcased on the course webpage with the names of all team members!