Math's Competitive Side

I have played on many sports teams during my high school years and so I think it is safe to say I thrive on competition. When one thinks of competition the polar opposite thought might be mathematics, well I am here to tell you are WRONG! “Mathies” can get competitive too I have seen it first hand and it is intense. I have experienced a number of student competitions within the field of STEM that students can get excited about and in the same way as a basketball tournament these competitions require practice, hard work, and commitment from the team. The first example is the Jr. Math Challenge presented by the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Board. This bi-annual event brings students in grades 4-6 together to learn and compete in all things math. Six students from each school (2 from each grade) are selected to represent their school at this one day tournament. In preparation for the event teacher coaches usually practice all types of math problems with their students. The format of the event is as follows; schools are ranked based on their scores, scores are received from their participation in each of the activity rooms. Some of the rooms the students participate in exercise student mental math, problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration skills. Students are awarded with prizes and also have the opportunity to listen to inspiring speakers in the field of STEM. A new similar contest has been created for high school students. The Mohawk Math Engineering Challenge is held at Mohawk College and has been created for grade 9 and 10 students to encourage students to continue a path in STEM. In its inaugural year this contest partnered with a number of sponsors to provide amazing tech prizes for the students. Another contest present in many southern Ontario high schools is the Waterloo Math Contest presented by the University of Waterloo a leading university and math and sciences. This contest is simply a test students that can write to extend their math knowledge and their scores get ranked within their school as well as province wide. An example of a large scale competition is any of the Robotic meets. These are the ultimate events that combine a love for STEM and sport. In these competitions high school teams bring their robot, which they designed and built, to a stadium which is transformed into a playing field where their robots are to complete a series of tasks. This is not just a show and tell event where students show off what they have done, they need to show what they can do by pinning their robot against others in the field and usually race to complete the tasks. Students are on their toes at these competitions as they are constantly making adjustments to their robots and their strategy to the games. These competitions truly demonstrate next level intelligence in students and they only get more impressive as you enter regional and global competitions. There are so many opportunities for students in STEM to show her competitive side and why not!