About the Competition:
The focus of the day is a fun and challenging mathematics competition, focusing on both individual and cooperative achievement. High Schools from the region may enter teams of up to three students in the competition.

The competition consists of two parts:

The team round presents each school's team with four or five challenging, open-ended problems. To solve these problems, the team members are allowed (and encouraged) to work together. Each team is to provide complete solutions to as many problems as possible, including justification of all steps and clear, concise explanations. The use of calculators is permitted during the team round.
The individual round has each student, working independently, answer twenty multiple choice questions. Winners are chosen based on the number of questions answered correctly; there is no penalty for incorrect answers. The use of calculators is not permitted during the individual round.

Subject areas covered by contest questions include: algebra, geometry, functions and functional notation, exponents and logarithms, trigonometry, probability and statistics, logic and set theory, arithmetic sequences, geometric series, and number theory.

We also share a lunch buffet with the students, where awards are presented to the three students with the highest scores in the individual round of the contest and to the three teams with the highest scores in the team round.

Math Talks:
In addition to the competition, students are invited to participate in a brief workshop on a mathematical topic which they may not otherwise encounter in the high school curriculum. Recent topics have included:

"The Curves Are Alive With The Sound of Mathematics" (2007)
-- by Dr. Steven M. Hetzler
"How to Save a Life: Mathematics in Medical Research" (2008)
-- by Dr. Troy V. Banks
"Are Seven-Game Baseball Playoffs Fairer than Five-Game Series?" (2009)
-- by Dr. Brian J. Dean
"Why are so many people today in such deep financial trouble?" (2010)
-- by Dr. Michael A. Gauger
"Euclid, Mersenne, And The Search For Perfection" (2011)
-- by Dr. Kurt E Ludwick

(For a more complete list of previous years' talks and speakers, click here.)

Past Years' Exams:
Here are some links to previous years' exams. These files are in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need the (free) Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.

2001: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2002: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2003: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2004: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2005: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2006: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2007: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2008: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2009: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2010: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)
2011: Individual Round (solutions) - Team Round (solutions)

===== About the Competition - Math Talks - Past Years' Exams - 2011 Winners =====

2011 Winners:

TEAMS [photos]

1st Place: Salisbury Christian School
Team: Shelly Jung, Adam Li, Garrett Spicer-Davis
Coach: Andrew Thompson
2nd Place: Worcester Preparatory School
Team: Olivia Massey, Michelle Strickler, Patricia Twilley
Coach: Linda Bragg
3rd Place: Stephen Decatur High School
Team: Daniel Beck, Joseph Iacona, Tate Redding
Coach: Sherryl Olson

INDIVIDUALS [photo]

1st Place: Shelly Jung, Salisbury Christian School
2nd Place: Carter Tilghman, James M. Bennett High School
3rd Place: Joseph Iacona, Stephen Decatur High School

Each of the students listed on this page won a U.S. Savings Bond as well as a book prize.

===== About the Competition - Math Talks - Past Years' Exams - 2011 Winners =====

For more information, please contact Dr. Jennifer Bergner (410 - 547 - 5429)

Last modified 12/2/2011