On Wednesday, 22 April, 30 students from the International School of the Sacred Heart attended the annual Mathematics Field Day, held at Camp Zama. Students from various schools in the KPASSP organization attended the event.

Mathematics Field Day is an annual event in which students from grades seven to twelve represent their schools and compete in a wide range of activities involving mathematics.

In the morning, some students competed in the Rapid Computation category and others competed in the Individual category, which was divided according to grade level. All of the attending ISSH students competed in the Individual category which tested their knowledge of a variety of mathematical problems.After lunch, the students were organized into teams of 5 or 6 students from different schools. They spent the afternoon collaborating with their group members for two activities.

For the first activity, from each group, one member was selected as the “runner” to get a slip of paper with three questions from a judge and run back to his or her table. Once a group answered their three questions, the runner would run around a course and give the judge their answers for checking. If the answers were correct, the runner would receive a new set of questions. However, if the answers were wrong, the runner would return to his or her group to attempt at answering the questions again.

If a group did not get the correct answers on the first or second try, the group would be allowed a third attempt before moving on to the next set of questions. Each time a set of questions was received or checked, the runner had to run around the course. This process continued until the set time was up. Each group received a point for each correct answer, and bonus points were given for groups that answered correctly on the second attempt, and even more points on the first attempt.

For the second activity, the Tech Challenge, each group was given an envelope that contained a sheet of instructions, two paper clips, some straws, and a few sheets of paper. The groups were instructed to work with their teammates to create a “glider,” and they were told that the glider that travelled the furthest would win. The students were only allowed to use the materials provided in the envelope, tape, scissors, and sticky tacks. They were also instructed that they must use the two paper clips in their gliders.

After the Tech Challenge finished and every piece of trash was picked up and thrown away, the awards from the activities throughout the day were presented. For the morning activities, gold, silver, and bronze medalists were awarded in each category. The winners for the afternoon activities were announced and presented medals as well.

Overall, the students seemed to enjoy themselves at Mathematics Field Day as they were given plenty of opportunities throughout the day to socialize with others while testing their skills and knowledge of solving math problems.