The Maths
Challenge Contest 2002
The Scottish Maths Council runs
this annual contest which involves two batches of 5 problems
issued during the session. It is open to students in schools
from the whole of Scotland. However there are five
geographical Sections which are autonomous and so the prize
structure within each Section is independent of the other
Sections. The sets of problems and issue dates are common to
all Sections. The Sections are: 1 The North, 2 East and
Central, 3 Lothian and Borders, 4 West and 5 South West.
Madras College is in the East and Central Section. The
contest is also divided according to age with the following
divisions: Junior (S1/S2) , Middle (S3/S4) and Senior
(S5/S6). Finally there are three categories of award: Gold,
Silver and Bronze.
In this year's event Madras College
achieved a remarkable total of 19 Gold and Silver awards.
This is the best result for the school since 1998.
Pictured here are our
prizewinners just after the Awards Ceremony which was held
on Tuesday 28th May at the Mathematical Institute,
University of St Andrews.
The Prizewinners were entertained
in the morning by Mr Bill Richardson, Chairman of the
National Committee responsible for the Mathematical
Challenge Competition, who led the assembled 140 budding
young mathematicians through a series of stimulating problem
solving exercises. Audience participation was the order of
the day and the Math Challengers rose to the occasion with a
dazzling display of their problem solving skills. Packed
lunch was provided and the exhausted prizewinners spilled
outside into the glorious sunshine not only to eat up but to
try and solve the Four
Fours problem which was
given as a lunchtime challenge! In the afternoon after the
presentation of prizes, solutions were flying around in
abundance but unfortuneately time ran out before all the
solutions could be discussed. This was a tribute to the
sheer variety and creativity of these young mathematicians.
There was general agreement that the day had been a great
success. Thanks must go to the staff of the Mathematics
Department at St Andrews University for hosting the event
and for making the day such a memorable one.
Our top awards were:
The Bronze Award winners will be announced shortly.
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