mathteam

Things Happening in West Virginia- Math Field Day Math Field Day is a day like our Spring Fling, where grades fourth through twelfth compete in mathematics competition throughout the day. It takes place during the spring in mid-March or so. In grades fourth through ninth, they compete in their own grades to win. But in tenth through twelfth, they are competing against the whole division. The West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics created Math Field Day to make more kids interested in the general area of mathematics. The state is broken up into these divisions:  The levels of competition are **school, county, region, and state.** The events of **School** are //written test// and //Mental Math Computation//. A written test is the part of the day where most points are earned. They are given 30 minutes to complete a 25 question test with a calculator. The Mental Math Computation is broken into two parts. One part is where they are shown a problem and given 20 seconds to answer without paper or a calculator. As long as they are within 10% of the actual answer they are given 4 points each question. The other part is technically the same thing, but they have to be exact. **County** is the same as **school**, just with less people and one more event. //Quantity Estimation// does not count towards the final score of a competitor, but it is used to break ties within the others. They are given a bag of candy to hold for 20 seconds and guess the weight in grams.   At the **region** level, it gets harder still. It is still the same as school, but again with less people (depending on the school). In grades 4-8, //physical estimation// is added. This is where each child is given an object and has to guess either the width, length, circumference, area, etc. They are given 20 seconds to touch and look at the object. In all other grades, //short answer// is given. This part of the competition is where each student is given 4 rounds of 2 questions with 5 minutes each round. They must answer in short answer form. Finally, **state** is where the top 3 students in each region compete in //Written Test, Mental Math Computation, Physical Estimation, and Short Answer//. In addition, a //Math Relay// portion is added. The top 3 students from each region work as a team to complete the relay. The first person is to answer a question and hand it to the next person so they can plug that number into the problem. The last person is to take the answer of the word problem and plug it into //their// question. This portion of the competition is used to promote good-natured skills between students. Don’t you think we should have a Math Field Day at our school?
 * Region I- Raleigh, Wyoming, McDowell, Mercer, Summers, Monroe
 * Region II- Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo, Wayne
 * Region III- Boone, Clay, Kanawha, Putnam
 * Region IV- Pocahontas, Webster, Fayette, Braxton, Nicholas, Greenbrier
 * Region V- Wood, Pleasants, Calhoun, Jackson, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler, Wirt
 * Region VI- Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel
 * Region VII- Barbour, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, Marion, Monongolia, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker, Upshur
 * Region VIII- Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, Pendleton

__Math Team Takes 5th Place Jan. 12__
The Math Team went to ASFA (Alabama School of Fine Arts, Downtown Birmingham) for a Math Tournament on Jan. 12. They placed 5th overall, which is pretty good for everyone that was there. There scores are based on the tests (yes, they take a test) and ciphering scores. Mrs. Dobbs is the Math Team leader, Math 7, Honors Math 7, and Honors Pre-Algebra teacher and she said that they did their best at the tournament. It was the first for the seventh grade, and they did exceptionally well for only practicing one hour a week. They practice in her room on the K-9 hall. Mrs. Dobbs gave me some sample questions from the tournament:

1. What will the units digit of 793 (2007) be?

2. One wheel of a huge truck turns 110 times in a one-mile trip. What is the tire’s radius?

Feel free to //try// to complete these problems and e-mail me your answers to //mwood6917@gaggle.net//

During the tournament, Mrs. Dobbs could only watch the ciphering; otherwise, she could not talk to the students. The only problem they need to work out with is practice beyond 7th grade math. Other than that, they are a well rounded Math Team. They did a great job and we are very proud of them.

Matt