Written by: Senna
Edited by: Alessi
Graphic by: Addie
From September 24 to September 26, ISM students ranging from Grades 8 to 10 participated in the Junior Qualifier of the World Mathematics Championship (WMC) held at ISM. This exciting, interactive competition welcomed students with a range of mathematical skill sets who wanted to develop their problem-solving abilities. Mathletes from Brent also participated.
Students took part in 5 rounds spread across the two days, each featuring different styles of math problems that promote multifaceted thinking. In the Classic round held on Thursday, each participant had to answer twelve multiple-choice problems and six “problem pairs,” questions in which the answer to the first question is used to solve the second.
The Crypto, Duel, Lightning, and Cycle rounds were held on Saturday. The Lightning round was done in teams of three and required participants to run to collect and submit as many rapid-fire questions as they could in 1 hour. The Cycle round required teams to solve 3 or 4 math problems and show their full thought process. Both were completed in Synergy teams, consisting of students from the same school.
In the Crypto round, each team member was given a cipher and two questions to decipher; this was completed in an Alliance team of students from different schools. Students completed the Duel round individually, playing one-on-one math games as opponents rotated every three minutes.
Diana, an ISM sophomore participant, commented on the experience of competing in teams. “It was interesting to work in groups for math,” she stated. “I’ve never seen that before.”
Students who placed in the ninetieth percentile and above overall in the Junior Qualifier of the WMC were interviewed to be chosen for the Finals of the WMC, taking place at the University of Melbourne in Australia from December 16th to December 22nd.
Overall, this competition gave students from different schools an excellent opportunity to connect through a common passion.
