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Math Circle
 

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Math Circle

Past Work

 

At the charter school, I founded and ran a group of students called Math Circle that worked together to solve out-of-the-box mathematics problems.  Our group also participated in several competitions.  The first year, we placed third in the MetroWest Regional MathCounts competition, earning the award for Best New Team and advancing to the state competition.  Our AMC 8 team has also won special recognition each year.

The AMC 8 is a national competition consisting of one exam of 25 multiple choice questions.  Competing at our school on Tuesday, November 22, students had 40 minutes to complete the test.  The test covers many topics from middle school math, with an emphasis on problem solving and wide-spread applications.  High-scoring students will receive certificates and/or award pins, and the highest scorers nation-wide will be invited to compete in the AMC 10. 

MATHCOUNTS logo

MathCounts consists of regional, state, and national competitions--the National MathCounts Competition is even covered by ESPN!  High-scoring teams or individuals qualify for the subsequent level.  Regional competitions take place in February at a local site, where we will be competing with other local schools.  For the competition, we will have a team of four students and four additional individuals (eight students total).  MathCounts consists of four rounds:

  • Sprint Round
    30 problems, 40 minutes, no calculators
     
  • Target Round
    8 problems (in 4 parts), 6 minutes per part, calculators allowed
     
  • Team Round
    10 problems, 20 minutes, students work in teams of 4, calculators allowed
     
  • Countdown Round
    Fast-paced round where top-scoring individuals compete one-on-one against each other, no calculators
     

The entire competition takes about four hours, and students get to meet students from other schools who share a passion for problem-solving.  The AMC 8 will be a nice warm-up for the MathCounts competition, which has trickier problems.

 

If you would like to participate in an additional competition, the USA Mathematical Talent Search is a free, individual competition involving writing thorough solutions (with your work or justifications) to several problems over the course of a month.  Check out past problems here.

 

Math Competition Links

 

 

 

Last Updated January 14, 2008.