[Onlinepicos] Math Olympiad Newsletter for November

[Math Olympiads]

November, 2007 Newsletter
Volume XXIX, Number 2

CONTENTS:
       1. Olympiad Enrollment
       2. Building Team Spirit
       3. Appeals and a Correction
       4. NEW from MOEMS this fall
       5. Housekeeping Hints
       6. Scholarship Winners
       7. Contest 2 Dates

*     *     *     *     *     *

1. OLYMPIAD ENROLLMENT
As MOEMS celebrates its twenty-ninth year, PICOs 
continue to switch to the Internet from 
ground-based mails. This year 85% of all teams 
communicate with us online, up from last year's 
80% and the previous year's 74%. It is assumed 
that the two major reasons for this choice are 
the $10 discount per team, reflecting our savings 
in printing and mailing, and the greater ease of 
typing student data online as opposed to bubbling computer cards.

As of November 14, the three-year progression for 
the percents above break down as follows: for 
Division E, the figures are 84% this year, 79% 
last year and 72% two years ago. For Division M, 
the corresponding figures are 92%, 87%, and 86%. 
Current figures may rise as PICOs call every day 
to switch. We can do this as long as no bubble 
cards have been received for their team.

As of press time (is "press time" right for the 
Web?), Division E contained 3731 teams, compared 
to 3648 at this point last year. Division M, now 
ten years old, contained 812 teams, compared to 
831 last year. The totals are expected to rise 
slightly as teams with more than 35 mathletes ask for an additional team.

WORLDWIDE PARTICIPATION
Geographically, MOEMS teams are found in all 
fifty states, about 30 foreign countries, and our 
island territories of Guam, Saipan and Puerto 
Rico. There are 26 DoDDS (Department of Defense 
Dependent Schools) teams and 99 other teams located in other countries.

OUR WORLDWIDE AFFILIATES
In addition to our two divisions, MOEMS also has 
six semi-independent foreign affiliates due to 
differences in language or school calendar. While 
following our contest and awards structures and 
using our problems, they handle all the other 
aspects of administration and support. Together, 
they serve an estimated 2000 schools and 50,000 
students. These affiliates are located in 
Australia and New Zealand; Colombia; Iceland; 
India; the Philippines; and Singapore and 9 neighboring nations.

*     *     *     *     *     *

2. BUILDING TEAM SPIRIT

Want to build team spirit?

One way is to ask every member of the team to 
wear a Math Olympiad T-shirt, and/or cap to each 
contest. You might even want to arrange to have 
the name of the school, and perhaps the word 
MATHLETE, your team roster, or the year printed 
on the back. On the home page's floating menu, 
click on MOEMS Store > Team Spirit Items for more 
information and order forms. They also can be 
found in the MOEMS Store, under Items For Coaches.

Some PICOs order class sets of our book, 
Mathematical Olympiad Contest Problems for 
Elementary and Middle Schools, and allow students 
to borrow them for home study. Others ask 
children to buy a copy to help them start to 
build a personal library. These PICOs feel that a 
child who has the book is more likely to work 
independently, learning much more than the child 
who only attends practices. A marvelous way to 
build enthusiasm and self-assurance is to help a 
child feel competent. Extra practice and time 
usually help to develop those qualities. 
Information about the book is located in the 
PICO's Corner on the floating menu, under All 
Teams - Startup. The link is item 4A.

To build team spirit, why not recognize your 
students by announcing competitions and results 
over the school loudspeaker, designing a hallway 
Math Olympiad bulletin board, and writing an 
article, including pictures, for the school newspaper?

CHECK OUR WEBSITE TO SEE SUGGESTIONS FROM PICOS 
FOR TIPS ON COACHING OLYMPIAD STUDENTS

If you are a participant, or PICO present or 
past, and would like to share your comments, 
experiences, coaching methods, solutions or 
problem in our newsletter, feel free to contact 
us. Contact Executive Director Richard Kalman at 
office at moems.org, or write to MOEMS, 2154 
Bellmore Avenue, Bellmore, NY 11710-5645. [PHONE: 
(516) 781-2400; FAX: (516) 785-6640; Web site: www.moems.org]

*     *     *     *     *     *

3. APPEALS AND A CORRECTION
Division M
Problem 1D.     Answer: 90 kph
Appealed Answer: 84 kph Denied.
The problem concerned 3 average rates of speed 
for a round trip: the whole trip (72 kph), going 
(60 kph), and returning. This is a weighted 
average problem, but most students thought it was a simple average problem.

Why is 84 wrong? You can’t average averages, 
which is what a RATE of speed is. You only 
average actual measurements. The distances coming 
and going are the same, and, since their rates 
are different, their times are different. The 
overall rate, 72 kph, is the result of dividing 
the total distance (twice the one-way distance) 
by the total time (the sum of two unequal times).

Let your students test the 84 and the 60: pick a 
convenient one-way distance and divide by both 84 
and 60 to get the times, and then divide their 
total distance by their total time. Regardless of 
the distance they choose, they will get 70 kph, 
not 72, for the average speed of the round trip.

Division E
Correction: Problem 1C
The question and the answer, 24, are correct, but 
the solution has an error that does not affect 
either. The final diagram shows the 6 regions as 
3 high and 2 across. The diagram should show them as 2 high and 3 across.

How to Appeal:
If a student answer differs from the official 
answer on the contest key but you think the 
student is right, mark it wrong and send us an 
appeal. Make sure the student’s reasoning is 
clear. Our panel of 12 judges will then rule on it.

If an Appeal is Accepted:
If any of your students have the same appealed 
answer that was ruled as acceptable, then you 
should give that student credit regardless of the 
work shown. In May this could make a difference 
between earning an award or not. Just log on to 
your team record and change the score. You can 
always change contest results — just not student names.

*     *     *     *     *     *

4. NEW FROM MOEMS THIS FALL

OUR NEW PROBLEM BOOK
December should see a new book, Math Olympiad 
Contest Problems, Volume 2, rolling off the 
presses. A continuation of our first volume, Math 
Olympiad Contest Problems for Elementary and 
Middle Schools, it is full of useful features for 
PICO and mathlete alike, and can be a valuable 
addition to your professional library.

Its many features will include:
•       the 425 problems from our contests from 1995 to 2005;
•       50 Division E contests and 35 Division M contests;
•       step-by-step solutions to all problems;
•       hints, strategies, and percents correct for all questions;
•       multiple solutions for most problems;
•       extensions for about half of the questions;
•       an index of problem types;
•       a thorough handbook for PICOs; and
•       a study guide for mathletes.

The price is $37.95 plus shipping and handling. 
There is a discount of 10% for the full 
three-book problem-solving set (the third is 
Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics).

OUR NEW TOURNAMENT
Imagine the excitement as your mathletes compete 
face-to-face with those from many other schools 
in a full day grade 4-6 math tournament. The 
problems may be similar to Olympiad problems but 
the format and atmosphere are quite different.

Unlike the monthly contests, the tournament is 
run by your regional entity — a local 
organization or a mid-sized school district — 
under its own name. We provide all questions and 
solutions and walk the group through all the 
organizing, and they invite schools in their area 
to send teams to a central location.

Scheduled after the middle of March, this caps 
the year of monthly contests very nicely for your 
students. Teams of 5 work separately on a 
10-problem Individual Round, then together on 
10-problem Team Round, and ties are broken by a 
playoff. A key feature is the built-in review of 
the solutions. Winners are recognized that same day.

Benefits abound. Students are inspired and grow 
mathematically, and the organization enhances its 
reputation in the elementary schools, can attract 
new members, and benefits economically. For 
further information, contact our office.

SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Twelve schools won free enrollments for this year 
at the MOEMS booth at conferences this summer and 
fall, reports Dorothy Hess, our Director of 
Conferences. Congratulations to: Lucille Brown MS 
(Richmond, VA); Franklin MS (Chantilly, VA); 
Frost MS (Granada Hills, CA); Graham JHS (Graham, 
TX); Kemptown ES (Monrovia, MD); La Vernia JHS 
(La Vernia, TX); MS 7 (New York, NY); Oleson ES 
(Houston, TX); Pelham Centre, (Fenwick, ON, 
Canada); Rebecca Creek ES (Spring Branch, TX); 
St. James Academy (Solana Beach, CA); and Sunset 
Park Prep (Brooklyn, NY). Patti Freeman, the 
Franklin Middle School winner, exclaimed, 
“Yeah!!! I’m thrilled! I already told the other 
math club sponsor about your exciting program. I 
also used the ‘normal duck, lame duck, sitting 
duck’ problem as my warm-up Monday. It went over 
so well! Looking forward to hearing from you all and thanks so much!”

*     *     *     *     *     *

5. HOUSEKEEPING HINTS
BE PATIENT!
Computers are only in their adolescence and can 
be cantankerous. One simple solution to a 
computer misbehaving is to give it a time out. 
Shut down the system and reboot. This often 
cleans a lot of stray data off the internal 
desktop. Another simple solution is to use a 
different computer. Macs seem to have more 
problems than PCs, unless they use Netscape.

LINKS ON TOP OF SCREEN
** MENU - This takes you to your team menu from anywhere in the PICO's Area.
** STATISTICS -These are updated with every 
single entry (be patient — it's thinking!) so 
they are more accurate than those in our printed 
newsletters. Why not check out the contest results after you enter your scores?
** PRACTICE AND CONTEST PROBLEMS - Access the 
problems and solutions of the last two years and 
the current contests by using this link. The 
Documents button on the Team Menu page also accesses the problems.

PASSWORD
The bottom of the menu has a button to let you 
change your password. We suggest you simplify 
your password if you haven't yet done so.

BLOCKED EMAILS
Some PICOs do not receive our emails because the 
school's Spam filter blocks them. Be sure tech 
support allows both info at moems.org and 
office at moems.org to be accepted. Also check your 
Spam folder regularly for any past emails that 
were not deleted. We need to be able to email you 
your password and to mass-mail you when contests 
and newsletters are posted. When we receive a 
notice of email-rejection, we call. Most people respond.

EDITING STUDENT NAMES OR SCORES, CHANGING PASSWORDS
Your changes will not be saved unless you click 
on the UPDATE button at the bottom of the screen. 
Checking that data is entered is always a good 
idea. Click on Show Results Summary and print out a copy for later use.

*     *     *     *     *     *

6. CONTEST 2 DATES
DIVISION E      Dec. 11
DIVISION M      Dec. 12



----------
This message is for informational purposes only. 
Replies will not be viewed nor answered.
Mathematical Olympiads
for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS)
A Not-For-Profit Public Foundation
Richard Kalman, Executive Director
John Lufrano, Executive Secretary


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