Local students compete in GVSU mathematics tournament

About 100 local middle and high school students put their mathematical knowledge to the test as they competed against each other during the 2nd annual Math-Team-Matics tournament.

Hosted by Grand Valley State University’s Department of Mathematics and Regional Math and Science Center, the November 8 fun and friendly competition on the Allendale Campus saw students competing in four contests involving content from K-8 mathematics, high school algebra and high school geometry.

In the end, West Catholic High School captured the top prize in the high school division, while the Academically Talented Youth Program, based in Kalamazoo, won the middle school division.

“This program helps students to improve their problem solving skills and learn to work collaboratively,” said Chelsea Ridge, Regional Math and Science Center math program coordinator. “Our faculty hopes to inspire young learners to be more enthusiastic about math and become more critical mathematicians.”

Team and individual challenges during this year’s competition included:

• Team Challenge: students work as a team of five to solve a mathematical problem.
• Individual Test: each team member takes a test alone.
• Team Relay: teams work together to solve a problem. The first student solves one problem and passes their answer to the next student. That student then uses the preceding student’s answer to solve their piece of the problem. This process continues until the problem is completely solved.
• Quiz Bowl: two teams compete against each other to gain points. The rounds are formatted in a bracket style. The top two teams out of each division advance to the finals, which is a final round of Quiz Bowl.

For more information about Math-Team-Matics, contact Chelsea Ridge at (616) 331-3172 or [email protected].