By Ashley Mussbacher (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: February 19, 2014 (Online only)
While most were relaxing at home, several students met over the reading break to take part in the fifth annual Math Match at UFV.
First, the students were grouped into two random teams decided by a coin toss: Team A and Team B, which was dubbed the “rhyming team with Ben, Ken, and Etienne.”
Instructors Anna Kuczynska, Robin Endleman, Stan Manu, and Susan Milner were the acting judges in the competition.
The teams were separated into different classrooms and given two hours to complete eight questions, which covered a wide range of mathematics such as statistics, analysis, geography, calculus, and algebra.
Emily Scoular, a member of Team A, commented during the two-hour work period that the questions seemed harder than last year’s Math Match.
“I’m excited to see if the other team got solutions [to all the questions],” she said.
After the two hours were up, the teams and judges met at the math centre on campus to present their answers and determine the points for each team.
Points were divided by question. A team could challenge the opposing team to answer a question of their choosing. If the team accepted the challenge, they would have to present their answer in full detail to the judges, earning a full reward of 10 points for a correct answer. If a team didn’t have an answer for the question, they would lose points and the opposing team would be given a chance to respond.
A few questions were unsolved by both teams, earning negative points for each, but these unsolved questions allowed for lengthy discussion with the judges.
“I admit,” Kuczynska said after one particularly long debate, “that was a tough question.”
At the end of a two-hour judging and presentation period, Team B was declared the winner of the match nine-and-a-half points to Team A’s eight.
