November 17 – AMC 8

November 17th is the official date for the upcoming AMC 8.  This test is administered through many middle schools, but if yours does not, it is important to talk to your math teacher or principal now!

The AMC 8 gives invaluable practice for students who will later want to take the AMC 10 and 12.  The results of these high school level exams, administered in the Spring, are often required by the math and science departments of elite universities.

Here is some additional information from the AMC site:

The AMC 8 is a 25 question, 40 minute multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. This school year it will be held Tuesday , November 17 , 2009 . Click here for a current brochure.

The examination provides an opportunity to apply the concepts taught at the junior high level to problems which not only range from easy to difficult but also cover a wide range of applications. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in most junior high school mathematics classes. Calculators are not allowed starting in 2008. High scoring students are invited to participate in the AMC 10.

A special purpose of the AMC 8 is to demonstrate the broad range of topics available for the junior high school mathematics curriculum. This is done by competencies. The AMC 8 has the potential to increase the perceptions of the importance of problem solving activities in the mathematics curriculum by stimulating these activities both preceding and following the examination —specifically by studying the solutions manual.

Additional purposes of the AMC 8 are to promote excitement, enthusiasm and positive attitudes towards mathematics and to stimulate interest in continuing the study of mathematics beyond the minimum required for high school graduation. Developmentally, junior high school students are at a point where attitudes toward school and learning, and perceptions of themselves as learners of mathematics are solidified. It is important that they be provided opportunities that foster the development of positive attitudes towards mathematics and positive perceptions of themselves as learners of mathematics. The AMC 8 provides one such opportunity.

2008 AMC 8 Perfect Scores

Perfect Scores (25 out of 25) for the 2008 AMC 8 were posted this week.  Texas had its share including the well represented schools in Sugar Land which also produce some of the strongest MATHCOUNTS teams.

Here is a list of the perfect scorers in Texas, congratulations to them all!

Steven Chen,  Spicewood Acad, Austin
Pradhith Konduri, Harmony Sch of Excl, Houston
Xinghua Dou, T H Rogers SS, Houston
Michael Marino, T H Rogers SS, Houston
Paul Miller, Atascocita MS, Humble
Richard Kim, St Paul Luth School, McAllen
Gene Hsu, First Colony MS, Sugar Land
Mitchell Hwang, First Colony MS, Sugar Land
Bobby Shen, First Colony MS, Sugar Land
Lilly Shen, First Colony MS, Sugar Land
Zachary Tu, Fort Settlement MS, Sugar Land
Benjamin Tu, Fort Settlement MS, Sugar Land
Haotian Wu, Fort Settlement MS, Sugar Land

2008 AMC 8 Results

The results of the 2008 AMC 8 contest have been reported.  Many of our Math Circle students participated and distinguished themselves this year.  Several North Texas schools also stood out with the sum of their top 3 scores exceeding 66 (out of 75):

• Hockaday
• McLean Middle School (Fort Worth)
• Rice Middle School (Plano)
• Robinson Middle School (Plano)
• St. Mark’s School of Texas
• Testbrain Prep Center (Coppell)

Unfortunately too many schools still do not offer this important contest.  Please start now to lobby your own school system to not only offer the AMC 8 but to help students prepare for it.

Here is a distribution of scores on the 25 point test.

Alcumus

Our very good friends at the Art of Problem Solving have worked very hard to develop a new online learning system called “Alcumus.”  Alcumus is a game that students can play to compete against themselves, compare their progress on the leader’s board and identify gaps or weaknesses in their math preparation.

Alcumus features over 1100 different problem representing a wide variety of subjects.  In addition, the Art of Problem Solving instructors have developed over 60 video tutorials to help students better understand the subjects they are likely to see on contests like AMC 8, AMC 10 and AMC 12.

Alcumus is currently free to members of the Art of Problem Solving community so login or create an account today.

Upcoming Contests

We would like to wish good luck to all of the MMC students who will be participating in the MEANT Math Olympiad this weekend or the AMC 8 test next week.  Following are some of the awards given to students who perform exceptionally well on the AMC 8:

• A Certificate of Distinction is given to all students who receive a perfect score.
• An AMC 8 Winner Pin is given to the student(s) in each school with the highest score.
• The top three students for each school section will receive respectively a gold, silver, or bronze Certificate for Outstanding Achievement.
• An AMC 8 Honor Roll Certificate is given to all high scoring students.
• An AMC 8 Merit Certificate is given to high scoring students who are in 6th grade or below.

If you are interested in the distribution of scores in previous years and how individuals and schools performed in 2007 please click on the link below.  Best of luck again to our students!

AMC 8 2007 General Statistics

Chengde Feng – Angles and Areas – Recap

Chengde Feng’s lecture was greeted with very high attendance and very active participation.  Throughout his lecture, Mr. Feng showed the students how to solve a wide variety of geometry problems involving area.  These are problems that frequently occur in contests like MATHCOUNTS or AMC.  Many shortcuts and techniques were shared to help shave off precious sections during these problem solving tests.

You knew you were at a Math Circle when in the second hour, Mr. Feng announced a “pop quiz” and instead of groans there was honest enthusiasm from the students eager to apply their new knowledge.

Mr. Feng has provided the problems from the lecture. Members of the Metroplex Math Circle e-mail group can download these files from the group site. To join the e-mail group simply click below.

Click to join MetroplexMathCircle

AMC Test Preparation – Recap

The October 18th Math Circle was very special.  Dr. Andreescu selected 15 problems to teach specific problem solving strategies to the students.  Some of the problems involved numbers small enough to be solved in a brute force method, but Dr. Andreescu explained a principal underlying each of the problems which would allow them to be solved within a fraction of the time with less risk of arithmetic mistakes.

If the lecture just gave the students 15 “tricks” for improving their AMC test scores it would have been worthwhile, but not nearly to the standards of Dr. Andreescu or Metroplex Math Circle.  Instead, Dr. Andreescu explained exactly how each rule was derived and gave the students the tools to generalize these ideas to other kinds of problems.

Between problems, Dr. Andreescu answered questions from students and parents about these critical tests.  A quick poll of this well-attended session showed that unfortunately many schools still do not offer the AMC 8.  Parents and students went away from this session with a mission to demand that their school systems take seriously these valuable and respected tests.

Dr. Titu Andreescu – AMC Test Preparation

Dr Titu Andreescu

October 18, 2008 – Dr. Titu Andreescu – “AMC Test Preparation”

The AMC tests have become a critical measure of math and problem solving capabilities. Elite universities that routinely reject students with 800 SAT scores require and respect AMC test scores. These tests often draw on discreet math topics that students may not encounter in a standard US curriculum. The AMC 8 test is available for students through 8th grade and is excellent practice for the harder AMC 10 and 12.

Dr. Andreescu, the Director of MMC, is the former Director of AMC and coach of the US IMO team.  On October 18th, he will give students a distinct advantage with strategies to prepare for these tests which may determine their college admission.  For more information on these tests please see The Road to the IMO.

The Road to the IMO

Several postings have concerned the International Math Olympiad which is a bold aspiration for many Math Circle participants. But there are several steps on the road to representing the US on the IMO team and each one of those steps has its own challenges and rewards.

The IMO team is selected from among the top performers on the USAMO (United States of America Math Olympiad).

The USAMO is a six question, two day, 9 hour essay/proof examination. All problems can be solved with pre-calculus methods. Approximately 500 of the top scoring AMC participants (based on a weighted average) are invited to take the USAMO.

Just sitting for the USAMO requires a distinguished performance on the AIME, AMC 12 or AMC 10 tests.

The AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination):

The AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination) is an intermediate examination between the AMC 10 or AMC 12 and the USAMO. All students who took the AMC 12 and achieved a score of 100 or more out of a possible 150 are invited to take the AIME. All students who took the AMC 10 and had a score of 120 or were in the top 1% also qualify for the AIME.

The AMC 10 and AMC 12 test are administered to hundreds of thousands of high school students. Many of the universities who routinely reject applicants with 800 SAT Math scores are requiring submission of AMC test scores.

A special purpose of the AMC 12 is to help identify those few students with truly exceptional mathematics talent. Students who are among the very best deserve some indication of how they stand relative to other students in the country and around the world .

To prepare for these challenging and potentially life altering tests, AMC offers the AMC 8 eligible to students through the 8th grade.

The AMC 8 is a 25 question, 40 minute multiple choice examination in junior high school (middle school) mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. The examination provides an opportunity to apply the concepts taught at the junior high level to problems which not only range from easy to difficult but also cover a wide range of applications. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in most junior high school mathematics classes.

Math Circles have a great deal to offer beyond improving performance on this series of tests. However, Metroplex Math Circle is particularly fortunate to have as its Director, Dr. Titu Andreescu, the former Director of AMC and Coach of the US IMO team. He has generously shared his experience with MMC students to help them prepare for these critical steps on the road to the IMO.