Math Bowl Competition

Last year as a fourth grader my 11 year old daughter tried out for the school's math bowl team but didn't quite make the cut.  She tried out again this year as a fifth grade and did make the team!  Practices took place for about 6 weeks and then came the day of the math bowl competition against several other teams.  I didn't really know what to expect for questions, but when the questions started popping up I was impressed by the ability of these 10 and 11 year olds.  I have a Ph.D. in Astrophysics so I didn't find the questions tough for me, but there were several questions requiring the use of algebraic equations.  There were a few that I admit, not having pencil and paper, I wasn't able to do in my head!  Yet many of the teams present answered the questions correctly! 

Cars and algebra!

There was the classic problem of one car leaving Town A traveling at x mph and another car leaves Town B and y mph, at what time do the two cars pass each other on the road?  LOL!  It takes a bit of algebra do to this, but these 4th and 5th graders did it.

I was very pleased to see a large number, maybe even the majority, of girls participating.  Math and science still have a male to female ratio problem and that will only change with the continued encouragement of girls in math and science.  My daughter loved math bowl this year and looks forward to trying out again next year.  Encourage your child, regardless of gender, to try out for the math bowl team at your school.