Year 5 and 6 Overview
A group of five Year 5 and 6 students (Belle Brandon, Katherine Hawkswood, Riya Roopireddy, Emily Schafer and Heidi Stover) went to Glenmore High School to participate in the Primary Maths Team Challenge. To start off the competition, we were handed a piece of paper that had 20 questions, and each question was worth different points. After the 5-minute timer went off, we handed in our sheets, and waited for the next instructions. To our surprise, we had to switch supervisors for our relay questions. The relay section had two people working together on one question, and the spare person waiting to switch with whoever finished first. We had 30 minutes to finish as many word problem questions as we could. The final section was where we worked with students from other schools to solve problems as a group. We all enjoyed the morning and it was a great learning experience. Thank you to Dr Fry for taking us and we look forward to possibly competing again next year.
Katherine Hawkswood and Emily Schafer
Year 6 Students
Year 7 Overview
On Thursday (Week 3) five Year 7 students (Janet Gao, Sierra Wyga, Skyla Abbott, Laine Kelly and Josephine Farrell) attended the Maths Team Challenge. The first event was an individual mental maths sheet where our general knowledge was tested. The next activity of the day was the team relay; this activity consisted of many challenging and straightforward questions that we worked out in pairs. This was followed by a quick break, in which we paired with fellow schools attending the challenge. The teams created included five students each from a different school. In this last challenge of the day, more of our knowledge was tested, however we still worked hard and well in these teams. Whilst split into these groups, each team estimated the number of blocks in a small jar… and Josie’s team was the lucky winner. All of us showed teamwork, the skills we had, and were helping, and encouraging each other. Thanks to the opposing teams who gave us a challenge, Ms Evetts, Tom, Zach and Dr. Fry for making this such a fun and memorable experience.
Skyla Abbott
Year 7 Student
Year 8 Overview
Math Team Challenge (MTC) was so fun. Our Year 8 team included Maya Graham-Hohn, Abby Pitt, Porsha Lowien, Lilian Pointing and Melissa Bulloch. We listened to Maya’s ‘great’ singing on the way to Glenmore State High School. As soon as we arrived, we headed to the Mike Maher Centre where we launched straight into the 1st round – individual, then the 2nd round: group relay. After we finished all the questions, we had a lunch break. The last activity was a mix and mingle with students from other schools. In this competition Melissa Bulloch’s team won. Even though the math questions were really hard, this was such a great experience, and we cannot wait until next year’s MTC.
Abby Pitt
Year 8 Student
Year 9 Overview
On Friday, Week 3, Davena Parker-Clipsham, Paige Ung, Olive Akop, Hannah van Heel and Lydia Johnstone attended the Maths Team Challenge at the Glenmore State School. Once we arrived at the Glenmore school, we were split up into the Year 10 team and Year 9 team. The first few minutes of the competition was challenging (as we had to do individual questions). The next session was easier as we worked in pairs, although it still involved some critical thinking. We finally managed to get on to the mega questions, which earned us a total of 130 points; but that wasn’t even the end of the competition. The section ended with rearranging the teams from the different schools participating, to complete questions together. Through this, we had the opportunity to bond and learn from the other students. We had fun, enjoyed the experience, and learnt social, and mathematical skills which we are grateful for.
Davena Parker-Clipsham
Year 9 Student
Year 10 Overview
Can you imagine a high-stake car race, where every second counts and every curve needs to be driven right? Well, this pretty much sums up our day at Maths Team Challenge. We started the day with mentally preparing ourselves to go up against some of the smartest 15 and 16 year olds in Rockhampton. We, as a group (Clare Hills, Charlotte Crawford, Lola Muir, Sophie Shaw and Taylah Jacobson), completed 20 problem solving questions about anything from graphs to circumference of a circle. This section of the day really made us think about what we had done in the last year with the pressure of a timer in the background. Every time one of the pair got a question right in our group of people, they would swap out and a new pair would get a question. As a member of the group, I believe we worked incredible together to perform at our very best against the other teams. After the rather loud timer went off, we calculated our score and handed them in to be marked. Then we mingled with all the schools and solved 10 tremendously hard questions with algebra, simultaneous equations and percentages. The whole day was an experience that was well worth it; meeting people with similar interest is always fun especially when is about math.
Clare Hills
Year 10 Student