Introduction
The Math Team is a club dedicated to the advancement of math at Concord-Carlisle. The club has weekly practices
where all students are welcome to come, practice some problems, learn new topics and theorems, eat good food, and meet new people who are also interested in math. Concord-Carlisle competes in the large school division, so competition is fierce! Despite this, we are one of the top teams in the large school division. We hope to improve, both in competition and fun. More importantly, though, we hope to broaden our membership and make Math Team more enjoyable for everyone, no matter what his or her mathematical ability.
Practices:
Practices are every Wednesday from 2:05 (or as soon as you can get there) to about 3:30 in S-18. One Wednesday a month there will be a meet instead of practice (see Activities), so we will have practice on Tuesday instead. There are no practices during vacation. Math Team's regular season runs from September to March with the eight
members of the All-Star team continuing into the beginning of May for the State and New England meets.
Each practice will consist of a timed individual rounds, timed team round and "buddy time." This year, to help the new members become comfortable, each new member will be paired with a returning math team member who will be his or her "buddy." During buddy time, the buddies will get together and the "veterans" can help the new
members with any problems they had trouble with or can answer any questions the new members have regarding the meets. The rest of the time will be spent working on other individual rounds and handing them in to be graded and returned for correction. If there seems to be a topic that a lot of people are having trouble with, a lesson might be given. Also, if there are any topics that are not covered in math team but people are interested in, a lesson in that topic can be
scheduled. Also, at each meeting there will be snacks and drinks, which will be provided by team members on a rotating
basis.
Activities:
Massachusetts Math League (MML) -There are six MML meets throughout the year (October through March). The meets are on the first Thursday of the month. On meet days, the team will meet in the Math Department Office right after school and travel by bus to wherever the meet is being held. We usually return from away meets at about 6pm, although the exact time differs depending on which school it is at and if there are any delays in starting or continuing the meet. For our home meet, the meeting place and time is the same, but instead of boarding a bus, team members set up the math hallway for the meet. Jobs include setting up desks in the meet rooms, putting up signs on the doors, and setting up and serving refreshments. After the meet everyone is asked to stay to clean up and return the rooms to how they were beforehand.
There are six individual rounds and one team round in each MML meet. There are ten regular team members whose score is counted towards the team score. Alternates are allowed to attend, but their score does not count towards a team score. Each round lasts ten minutes with a two minute and a fifteen second warning given in each round. There is one predetermined calculator inactive round and the rest are calculator active. There are three questions in each individual round, worth two points each. Each team member participates in three rounds. The team round consists of six questions, worth three points each. In the team round the whole team sits together and divides up the problems so that all problems are done at least twice.
Greater Boston Math League (GBML) - There are five GBML meets during the year (there is no meet in February). The meets are usually on the second Wednesday of the month. The meeting procedure is exactly the same as for the MML meets.
There are five individual rounds and one team round in each GBML meet. There are two teams, the pi team and the e team, each with five members. The two teams are scored separately. Alternates are also encouraged to attend, but their scores do not count towards a team score. Each round lasts ten minutes with a two minute and a fifteen second warning given in each round. The individual rounds are calculator inactive, but calculators are allowed in the team round. There are three questions in each of the rounds. In the individual rounds they are scored according to their number; the
first question is worth one point, the second two and the last three. In the team round the first two questions are worth three points and the last one is worth four. The same team round procedure is used in the GBML meets as for the MML meets.
New England Math League (NEML) - There are six NEML meets throughout the year. The NEML consists of one sheet with six problems. The test is administered at school. NEMLs are usually on a Tuesday in the middle of the month, are held in S-18, and run
from 2:15 to 2:45. The top five scorers are counted towards the team score.
American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) - The AMC is actually two tests: the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) -->10 and the AMC-->12. The AMC-->10 is for students in grade ten and under and the AMC-->12 is for students in grade 12 and under. See the schedule for the test date. In order to participate in the AHSME, you must sign up with your math teacher when the sign up sheet is passed around sometime in the fall. Both of the tests are structured the same, only the problems differ. The test is ninety minutes long and consists of twenty-five multiple-choice problems or varying difficulty. Each correct answer is worth six points, a wrong answer is
worth zero points and all questions left blank are worth two points. The top three scores from each level are sent in as the team score. Anyone who scores high enough (usually above 95) is invited to participate in the AIME.
American Invitational Math Exam (AIME) -The second level of the AHSME, the AIME is only for those students who do exceptionally well on the first test. See the schedule for the test date. The test lasts three hours and consists of fifteen problems. While it may seem like a lot of time for the number of problems, the time is needed and if you get any of the problems right it is very good; the record in our school of nine was set just a few years ago. There are usually about six to ten students who qualify for this test.
Math Olympiad Level 1 - Similar to the AMC, the first level of Math Olympiad is a ninety-minute test. See the schedule for the
date. The test is thirty questions long, however, with each correct answer worth only five points. The questions are slightly more difficult than in the AMC so the cut-off point in usually a little lower, about 85. Those who are above the cut-off go on to the second level.
Math Olympiad Level 2 - The second level of the Olympiad is totally different from the first. First of all, it is held at a different school. The main difference, though, is the test's format. Whereas the first level is multiple choice questions that have a definite right and wrong answer, the second level consists of a series of question sets where the emphasis is not on the answer but how you got it. There are eight sheets, each with a question containing two to four parts on it.
The answers are often either drawings or written explanations. If the answer is a number, the whole process of how you got the number must be shown as well.
