Moody's Mega Math Challenge

Some of us who completed our secondary-level education in the 1980s and 1990s (myself included) had the pleasure of competing in local math competitions. The Greater San Diego Math Field Day was one such example. I personally competed in this event- and later the high school equivalent of the same- in every grade from 6th through 12th grade. The setup was fairly consistent. On one particular Saturday morning in spring, students representing teams from all competing schools would show up at one specified location, usually a public school campus. Students would be ushered into rooms and would be given a challenging timed math test. These tests contained challenging isolated math problems, which tested math skill and knowledge. Then, while students cleared their heads and waited- attending lectures and perhaps having lunch- the tests would be quickly graded. In early afternoon, students and families would assemble in an auditorium and the awards ceremony would ensue. Winning students would receive a ribbon and/or trophy, perhaps a small prize (one year, my 2nd place prize was the game of Helix). Flash forward to the present. The "low stakes" competitions of the kind described above are increasingly rare, perhaps regarded as obsolete. The "old-fashioned" problems are an intellectual challenge, but how does society benefit from tackling such isolated and seemingly random problems? Over the past several years, a new and high-stakes math competition-which draws thousands of competitors nationwide- has emerged. I refer specifically to Moody's Mega Math Challenge, organized by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. This competition is held online over the last weekend in February. Students have a 2- to 3-day window in which to compete, but must submit the team's solution within 14 hours of accessing the problem. Once any team member downloads the problem, the clock starts ticking for the entire team. Our math team from California Virtual Academy just competed in this competition- for the 2nd consecutive year! Regardless of the results, the students found this an enjoyable and interesting experience. The problems from past years have been posted. As seen on their website, this year's problem involved investigation of environmental impact and climate change, specifically considering historical sea levels at major national parks and extrapolating future levels via mathematical modeling. Surely the results of students' work on this problem is of enormous value to our country. Indeed, ther are many who scoff at the notion of environmentalism and global warming and the like. However, if the gifted students throughout our country consistently arrive at similar conclusions, this would be something our political leaders should consider. (Yes? At least I would hope so. For our sake as a species....). This is a high-stakes competition. The prizes awarded to winners reflect this. While there is no cost to register to compete, a total of up to $150,000 of prizes are awarded, with prizes ranging from $1000 to $20,000 split amongst team members, to be paid to their future colleges. It should be pointed out, however, that all teams submitting viable solutions are deserving of commendation. As noted above, these problems are not isolated abstractions, but are relevant matters that impact our entire country- and world. Successful students need a well-rounded academic background for this competitions, since they must not only tackle the math, but also write a lengthy, detailed research paper containing all specfied components within the time allotted. Such a feat is indeed impressive.