MSCC To Host Math Contest March 3; Registration Deadline Set for Feb. 24

An automobile race at the Bristol Motor Speedway has 18 entrants. In how many ways can first, second, and third place be awarded?

Junior and senior high students who think they can answer that question will want to participate in the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Mathematics Contest at Mid-South Community College on Saturday, March 3.
 

MSCC, which will be serving as a competition site for the sixth consecutive year, is one of only three Arkansas community colleges hosting a regional event. The contest will also be staged at 11 four-year colleges and universities across the state. 

“Bringing some of the best mathematical minds in the area to our campus is always an exciting time for Mid-South Community College,” said Garth Johnson, Program Coordinator for Mathematics and Physical Education, who is serving as regional director. “We are very pleased to have another opportunity to be a part of this academically challenging competition.”
 

Students in public, private, and charter schools are eligible to participate in the contest, as are home-schooled students. The subject-area tests will reflect the vision set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the Arkansas Department of Education adopted frameworks. Questions will generally reflect problem solving and conceptual understanding rather than routine manipulation.
 

In 2011, a record number of students from East Junior High School, Hughes High School, Marion High School, Marion Junior High School, Rivercrest High School, West Memphis High School, and West Junior High School participated in the contest at MSCC.
 

High school students currently enrolled in Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry/Pre-
Calculus, Statistics, and Calculus are eligible to take the corresponding exam. The competition fee is $2 per student, and the registration deadline is February 24.  

For more information on the local contest, please contact Johnson at (870) 733-6803 or gjohnson@midsouthcc.edu.
 

Participants will sign in between 9 and 9:30 a.m. in the Wilson Conference Center in Magruder Hall on MSCC’s South Campus, and subject exams will be conducted at 10 a.m. in the Southland Greyhound Science Center.
 

After the tests and before the results are announced, students will have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on educational activity coordinated by students from the Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Last year’s contest challenge was to build the best marshmallow launcher (by distance) using only popsicle sticks, rubber bands, coat hangers, and duct tape.

Following the exercise, math contest awards will be presented at 12:30. First-, second- and third-place finishers in the regional competition will receive trophies and will qualify to participate in the state competition, which is scheduled for April 28 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Other top finishers from the MSCC contest may also have the opportunity to advance, depending on how their scores compare with students in other regions throughout the state.
 

Top finishers from the contest at MSCC have often performed well in the state competition. Winners in the state competitions in Algebra I and Geometry will receive a graphing calculator. The top three finishers in the state competition in Algebra II, Trigonometry/Pre-calculus, Statistics, and Calculus will be awarded scholarships for $500, $300, and $200, respectively, to the colleges or universities of their choice. The winners of the state contests receive scholarships and awards totaling more than $4,000.
 

Honorable mention certificates will be awarded to participants eliminated from the top three positions by tie-breaker items. All of MSCC’s full-time mathematics faculty will be involved in the regional event, and adjunct instructors have also been encouraged to participate.
 

ACTM is a professional association that supports and encourages good mathematics teaching. The organization’s mission is to provide vision and leadership in improving the teaching and learning of mathematics so that every student is ensured of an equitable, standards-based mathematics education, and every mathematics teacher is ensured the opportunity to grow professionally.
 

The answer to the speedway question? All good math students know it’s 4,896.