Math Olympiad

Chadbourne Math Olympiad 2021-22

Below you will find useful information on the CFFA sponsored Math Olympiad and how it is run at Chadbourne Elementary.

To participate and stay informed about this activity, please join Konstella.

Please read through all the information below before you register your child.

1.What is the Math Olympiad?

2. Who can participate?

3. Math Olympiad Divisions and Contests

4. Math Olympiad at Chadbourne

5. Teams and Study Groups

6. Study Materials and Sample Problems

7. Use of School Facilities for Study Group Meetings

8. Coaching for Contests

9. Awards and Certificates

10. MEOM online format for administering the contests

11. Parent Volunteers Needed

1. What is the Math Olympiad?

Math Olympiad for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) is an international math competition created in 1977 by Dr. George Lenchner, an internationally known math educator. Last year, nearly 170,000 students from 6,000 teams worldwide participated in the Olympiads. Math Olympiad includes problem solving contests that stimulate enthusiasm and a love for Mathematics in students while introducing them to important math concepts and strategies of problem solving. For more information, check out the MOEMS website.

2. Who can participate?

Math Olympiad is open to students in grades 4 through 8 (for chadbourne it is upto 6th grade). Only schools, home schools and institutes can register students, NOT INDIVIDUALS.

3. Math Olympiad Divisions and Contests

MOEMS offers two age appropriate divisions to choose from. Students in grades 4 through 6 will participate in the Elementary Division (Division E) while the Middle School Division (Division M) is open only to grades 6 through 8.

At Chadbourne, all interested 4th and 5th graders will be registered for Division E, while 6th graders will have the option to register for Division E or M. Students will be registered as teams of up to 35 students.

MOEMS publishes five monthly contests for each division from November through March. These contests provide an incentive for students to intensify their study of math.

4.Math Olympiad at Chadbourne

Math Olympiad at Chadbourne Elementary is a parent run activity. This year due to pandemic contests will be conducted online. While the CFFA will register students and facilitate contests online , the overall coordination, organization of teams and administering the monthly contests will be handled by a parent volunteer working as the Math Olympiad Chair. ManjulaPeddireddy will be the Math Olympiad Chair for the year 2021-22. Parents are responsible for coaching the students and preparing them for the contests. CFFA and the Math Olympiad Chair will NOT conduct any coaching classes.

In the past years, CFFA has registered 3 Division E teams and one Division M team. There can be up to 35 students on a team, so this provided an opportunity for 140 students to participate. This year the number of teams that will be registered will depend upon the number of student registration received.

By registering, the student is committing to participate in the entire program. Please remember that withdrawing from the program after registration closes is not only a waste of CFFA funds (donated by you) but also an opportunity denied for another student. Encourage your child to prepare for and attend all five contests. Results of the contests are sent out just to the parents and will not be mass emailed or posted online.

Once teams are registered, students can form smaller study groups to prepare for the contests under parental supervision. Study groups typically meet once/twice a week and work on study material recommended by MOEMS (see below for information on study materials). Because of Pandemic Study groups can not use school facilities such as classrooms for their meetings outside class hours (see more information below).

The five 30-minute contests will be conducted as per the dates published by MEOM. . Exact date (within the window given below under MEOM online format section), time of the contest will be communicated by Math Olympiad chair by October End.

MOEMS rules require that all registered students take the contests at the same time. THEREFORE, NO MAKE-UPS WILL BE ALLOWED WHATSOEVER.

5. Teams and Study Groups

Up to 35 registered students are assigned to each team. However, the entire team does not have to meet and prepare together. You can form smaller study groups consisting of any number of students. You can even choose to prepare individually and not be part of a study group. If you form a study group, it is advisable to have students of the same Division in the group as the study material varies for the two divisions. Once the teams are formed after the registration, we will send the list of student names that are part of each team.

The Math Olympiad Chair will NOT be responsible for forming study groups.

6. Study Material And problems

MOEMS recommends the following books for students to prepare for the contests:

    • Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics

    • Math Olympiad Contest Problems for Elementary and Middle Schools Volume 1

    • Math Olympiad Contest Problems Volume 2

    • MOEMS Contest Problems Volume 3

These books are available at the MOEMS online store and on Amazon. These are just recommended books; you can also use other books that teach similar concepts. The MOEMS website also has sample contests and Problem of the Month available. What Every Young Mathlete Should Know is another helpful sheet about the basics participating students are expected to know.

7. Use of School Facilities for Study Group Meetings

Due to the ongoing Pandemic, school facilities will not be available for study group meetings.

8. Coaching for Contests

Parents will be responsible for coaching their kids and preparing them for the contests. Here are some pointers that you may find helpful:

▪ Schedule practice every week for at least one hour. The key ingredient for improvement of any skill is the amount, consistency, and frequency of time spent practicing the skill. Practices also help students know what to expect. Practice at least 4 times before the first contest, the more the better.

▪ Consider using the first half of each class to teach a new topic from Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics 2nd Edition. This book was developed from a series of popular in-service courses for teachers.

▪ For the second half, assign problems from past Olympiads, from the books Math Olympiad Contest Problems Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3.

▪ Maximum growth occurs when reviewing solutions. Use the model solutions in the books to explain the various approaches to tackling problems.

▪ Where time permits, explore variations on selected problems.

▪ Assign homework weekly.

IMPORTANT!! Please do not distribute practice problems by posting them online (neither a secure website nor any other website). Posting them online or emailing them is a violation of the copyright laws, and, therefore, not an acceptable way to distribute practice materials.

9. Awards and Certificates

Upon the conclusion of all five contests, students will be eligible for the following individual and team awards.

Individual Awards

▪ A Certificate of Participation for each student who took part in MOEMS

▪ An embroidered Olympiad Iron-On Patch for each student whose cumulative score ranks in the top 50 % of their division

▪ A “Gold Pin” or a “Silver Pin” for each student whose cumulative score is in the top 2% or 3-10% of their division, respectively

▪ One trophy for the highest individual scorer for each team

▪ A boxed Medallion (the George Lenchner Award) for any student scoring a perfect 25 on his/her cumulative score

Team Awards

A Team’s Score is computed by taking the sum of the ten highest scores on each team.

    • For Each Division: A plaque for “Highest Team Achievement” for a team score in the top 10% of all participating teams

    • For Each Division: A “High Achievement” certificate for a team score in the next 10% (11% – 20%) of all participating teams

10. MOEMS OnLine format for administering the contests

This year we will be conducting online MOEMS contests both for groups E&M. The contest Dates and time at Chadbourne are as below

Note all students have to take the test at this set date and time, there will not be any retest allowed, if any student misses the test for whatever reason, that student will be marked as absent when the scores are submitted to MOEM

Contest is for 30 mins, contest start time is 5.15PM. We will start the online check-in process 15 mins before the contest start time.

THE 2021-2022 SEASON

Contest Dates for 2021 - 2022

(For both On paper and Online formats)

MOEMS® OnLine (remote administration)

    • Contests are taken remotely using the internet.

    • Contests consist of five non-routine problems and has a time limit of 30 min.

    • Every problem requires careful mathematical thinking.

    • Students work alone, scoring 1 point for each correct answer.

    • Thus, a student may score up to 25 points per year.

    • Calculators, rulers, graph paper, and other aids or resources are not permitted.

    • Problems introducing more advanced concepts include all necessary definitions.

    • Detailed solution provided (which will be shared after the contest is administered for review).

    • Many solutions include follow-up problems and activities.

    • Results are submitted to MOEMS after each contest for scorekeeping.

    • Our records will determine which awards are to be shipped after the last contest.

How is the test administered online @Chadbourne?

This year we plan to administer the test either via Google classroom or Zoom. Below are the rules to be followed. Not complying with these rules will result in disqualification.

    • All registered students should login through zoom meeting at the checkin time (which is usually 15 mins before the actual starting time of the contest). Please enter Student first followed by last name when logging into zoom. There will be one breakout session for each team, student is expected to join the breakout session corresponding to his/her team.

    • Each student is allowed only a pen, pencil and eraser, along with blank sheets of scrap paper. The Parent Volunteers from Math Olympiad committee will verify that the sheets are clean and that no calculators, graph paper, protractors, or other aids or resources are present on the desk/table.

    • Each student should turn on the Video and make sure they are always in front of the camera through the contest period and can not take parents, siblings, tutors or any other person's help.

    • When the parent Volunteer is satisfied that all team members are present and ready, they will provide access to the contest questions which is in the form of google form to all students, give the signal to begin, reminding the students that they will be limited to 30 minutes to complete the contest.

    • Each student writes his/her first name, last name, grade, team name in the form . Students are allowed to submit the google form multiple times within the 30 mins contest window. But note once submitted form gets closed , to update the form student has to reopen the form again

    • Students arriving to the contest after contest has begun (late) may be permitted to join in the contest; however, they will only receive the remaining time allotted for the rest of the class.

    • parent volunteers will provide 15-, 10-, and 5-minute warnings to the students. Students should be reminded that they may submit their answer sheet anytime during the 30- minute contest, if they are done and can exit the zoom meeting, They do not need to wait for the contest to be shut down. Along with the 5-minute warning, the parent volunteer should remind the students that answers must be entered properly in the answer spaces provided and submitted before the contest is closed down.

    • Once the timed contest begins, it is imperative that the parent volunteers monitor the following:

      • Students’ eyes should never leave the computer screen or the scrap paper being used for that contest

      • Students are not permitted to seek the aid of a parent, sibling, friend who may be in another room.

      • Video should be enabled.

      • Students are not using any form of assistance. If any violations found, parent volunteer can question the kid and can be subject to disqualifying the kid form that contest

    • Google form will be closed at the end of the allotted 30 mins .. any response not submitted within 30 mins will not be accepted and student be marked absent

    • After the testing software has been closed, student answer sheets will be sent as a spreadsheet to the Math Olympiad chair , who along with other Volunteers from committee will grade them based on the answer key provided by MOEMS. To be accepted as correct, answers must be equivalent to those listed on the answer key. All scores will be considered confidential. The answer key will be made available to the students after the contest.

    • It is the Math Olympiad chair’s responsibility to enter all scores at the MOEMS secure website before the deadline.

More details on Online context can be found in the below link

https://www.moems.org/MOEMS%20OnLine_files/Delivering%20MOEMS%20OnLine%20to%20your%20team.pdf

11. Parent Volunteers Needed

Parent volunteers are also needed to help conduct the five contests remotely. Please sign up to volunteer. Volunteer sign-up sheets and reminders will be sent out through Konstella before each contest.

If you sign up and later realize that you are unable to volunteer on the day of the contest, please withdraw your name from the sign-up sheet. This will give other parents a chance to sign up and reduce the number of volunteer no shows at the contests. Without adequate help from parent volunteers the contests cannot be administered.On the day of contest if you withdraw please notify Chair so we make sure enough volunteers are available to conduct contest

To register your child for Chadbourne Math Olympiad 2021-22, please fill out this form.

Thank you! If you have any questions, please contact the Math Olympiad Chair or Math Olympiad Co-Chair