Today was the northeast Pennsylvania regional MathCounts competition. It was held at the Penn State Worthington campus in Dunmore. We left school early this morning, around 7:30 am and arrived at 8:15am. After checking in, the team ate donuts provided by the MathCounts and university.
There were thirteen teams competing. They started with the target round, followed by the sprint round. After a short break, the team round was given. My A team was a little nervous, but it turned out, they did pretty good, taking third place overall. For lunch, we all had chicken and pasta in a room adjacent to the student cafeteria. After lunch, it was time for the countdown round. We has one student finish 4th, but did not advance. During the competition, WNEP Ch 16 arrived and took some video. They had a story on the local news tonight and I have the link below.
Update: Our number 5 student will attend the state competition in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on March 18th. Congratulations K. , I know you will do well there.
Here is a cool website where Robin guesses the gift you are thinking of. Take a number between 10 and 99 and subtract the first and second digit. Then use this number to find the corresponding gift. Just think of the gift and Robin will guess what it is.
Click the image to go to the site and give it a try. I’ll give some hints on how this works in the comments. Try it a few times and see if you can find the number theory behind Robin.
Who are the top five most influential mathematicians? I have five in mind that are important and are helpful when teaching math as related to MathCounts. Many students do not know of any mathematicians and I think it is important to teach some of the more important and influential mathematicians. It is also possible to study some of the lesser known but just as important mathematicians, but that would be for a more advanced class. I usually have the students learn some basic facts and the date of birth using the Peg System. Here are my top five.
My first video dealt with dividing numbers ending with zero, such as 30, 40, 50 etc. See part A below. I will now show you how to divide numbers that do not end in zero. This is the math trick that we use in class to try and beat the calculator. It really gets kids interested in some math and it’s great to do when there is only a few minutes left in class. I believe in not wasting a minute of instructional time. My MathCounts team uses this mathematics trick to sharpen their wits and warm up before we tackle the harder problems in practice. I’m also happy to say that my MathCounts team took first place in our region and also finished in the top half at the state competition. Great job. I’m very proud of them for all their hard word.
I use Club 91 as a fun way to sharpen my students’ math skills. If they can beat the calculator, then they can join Club 91. To divide by 91, one must keep in mind that their are two routines to know before you begin. Today, I will show you what to do when the number to be divided ends in zero. The next lesson I will show you what to do when the number does not end in zero. After you give this a try, practice in your mind so you can beat the calculator. Have fun.
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