Math/Science High School Challenge set
Blue Book bargains and racing robots will replace written tests and chalkboard lectures for almost 200 area students when the sixth annual High School Math/Science Challenge opens on Friday, May 19 at 9 a.m. at the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Sponsored by the SUNY Fredonia Department of Mathematical Sciences, the High School/Math Science Challenge will require teams of students to apply their classroom knowledge to a series of clever challenges.
“We have to be innovative and find ways to make math interesting for students,” said Dr. Keary Howard, Associate Professor of Math Education at SUNY Fredonia and originator of the High School Math/Science Challenge. “I am a big believer in field days – I know that when I was a young student, one of the things that always got me excited was a field day. We feel this is a great way to combine the study of math and science with the excitement of a field day.”
What began in 2001 as a change of pace for students from Fredonia and Frewsburg now includes high schools throughout Western New York. Confirmed participants include Depew, Eden, Fredonia, Frewsburg, Jasper-Troupsburg, John F. Kennedy, Lakeshore, Lockport, Pine Valley, Pioneer, Salamanca, Southwestern and West Seneca East. Attendance is expected to top the 2005 total, when 160 students from 12 high schools participated.
The Challenge will open at 9 a.m. with the first round of SMADNESS, a brainteaser that the Department of Mathematical Sciences incorporated into its Pi Day celebration on Tuesday, March 14 with great success.
The concept behind SMADNESS is simple, but the solution is a little trickier.
“We roll four dice to generate four numbers,” explained Dr. Julia Wilson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and co-organizer of the Challenge. “Students must then generate each number from one to 10 using just the four numbers rolled, and each must be used exactly once in each computation. For example, suppose we roll 2, 3, 5 and 5. To generate 1, we might take ((5/5) +2)/3, which equals 1. The first team to generate all numbers between one and 10 – without mistakes – wins.”
Following SMADNESS, teams will travel around campus to solve six new math- and science-related conundrums. The competition will include such contests as “If I Had A Ford Truck,” in which participants analyze data to create a depreciation model for the value of their favorite cars, and “Racing Robots,” where students use a graphing calculator to program a robot car’s path on a race course.
An awards ceremony will be held at noon for the winning teams.
The unique importance of the Challenge is its ability to introduce students to math in action. When a team scrambles through “House O’ Cards” to build a playing card edifice that can hold the most pennies, they learn to appreciate the science behind structural support. When a group of students must devise a formula to launch a water balloon at a target, as they do in “The Perfect Range Finder,” geometry takes on greater significance.
“We’ve all heard the question in math class – ‘when are we going to use this stuff?’” Dr. Howard said. “We always try to demonstrate that an understanding of math and science is meaningful in ways that genuinely affect your daily life...That is one of the main purposes behind the Math/Science Challenge, to show the high school students that these subjects are more than just calculations with a pencil and paper.”
In the future, the Department of Mathematical Sciences is interested in drawing additional areas of study into the Challenge, such as biology, earth science, physics and geology.
The Math/Science High School Challenge is made possible though the support of the faculty of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The Challenge Outreach Committee organized the 2006 event and is comprised of Dr. Lan Cheng, Ms. Rebecca Conti, Dr. Howard, Ms. LeeAnn Mislin, Dr. Robert Rogers and Mr. Dana TeCroney. Dr. Wilson served as chair of the committee.
Sponsored by the SUNY Fredonia Department of Mathematical Sciences, the High School/Math Science Challenge will require teams of students to apply their classroom knowledge to a series of clever challenges.
“We have to be innovative and find ways to make math interesting for students,” said Dr. Keary Howard, Associate Professor of Math Education at SUNY Fredonia and originator of the High School Math/Science Challenge. “I am a big believer in field days – I know that when I was a young student, one of the things that always got me excited was a field day. We feel this is a great way to combine the study of math and science with the excitement of a field day.”
What began in 2001 as a change of pace for students from Fredonia and Frewsburg now includes high schools throughout Western New York. Confirmed participants include Depew, Eden, Fredonia, Frewsburg, Jasper-Troupsburg, John F. Kennedy, Lakeshore, Lockport, Pine Valley, Pioneer, Salamanca, Southwestern and West Seneca East. Attendance is expected to top the 2005 total, when 160 students from 12 high schools participated.
The Challenge will open at 9 a.m. with the first round of SMADNESS, a brainteaser that the Department of Mathematical Sciences incorporated into its Pi Day celebration on Tuesday, March 14 with great success.
The concept behind SMADNESS is simple, but the solution is a little trickier.
“We roll four dice to generate four numbers,” explained Dr. Julia Wilson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and co-organizer of the Challenge. “Students must then generate each number from one to 10 using just the four numbers rolled, and each must be used exactly once in each computation. For example, suppose we roll 2, 3, 5 and 5. To generate 1, we might take ((5/5) +2)/3, which equals 1. The first team to generate all numbers between one and 10 – without mistakes – wins.”
Following SMADNESS, teams will travel around campus to solve six new math- and science-related conundrums. The competition will include such contests as “If I Had A Ford Truck,” in which participants analyze data to create a depreciation model for the value of their favorite cars, and “Racing Robots,” where students use a graphing calculator to program a robot car’s path on a race course.
An awards ceremony will be held at noon for the winning teams.
The unique importance of the Challenge is its ability to introduce students to math in action. When a team scrambles through “House O’ Cards” to build a playing card edifice that can hold the most pennies, they learn to appreciate the science behind structural support. When a group of students must devise a formula to launch a water balloon at a target, as they do in “The Perfect Range Finder,” geometry takes on greater significance.
“We’ve all heard the question in math class – ‘when are we going to use this stuff?’” Dr. Howard said. “We always try to demonstrate that an understanding of math and science is meaningful in ways that genuinely affect your daily life...That is one of the main purposes behind the Math/Science Challenge, to show the high school students that these subjects are more than just calculations with a pencil and paper.”
In the future, the Department of Mathematical Sciences is interested in drawing additional areas of study into the Challenge, such as biology, earth science, physics and geology.
The Math/Science High School Challenge is made possible though the support of the faculty of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The Challenge Outreach Committee organized the 2006 event and is comprised of Dr. Lan Cheng, Ms. Rebecca Conti, Dr. Howard, Ms. LeeAnn Mislin, Dr. Robert Rogers and Mr. Dana TeCroney. Dr. Wilson served as chair of the committee.
