At the beginning of March, four CATS Boston students, led by team captain Khoa, took part in the M3 Math Modeling Challenge.
The M3 Math Challenge is an online competition open to students across the United States, England and Wales where participants must use their math skills to draw conclusions based on real world problems and data. This year, 815 teams, consisting of Juniors and Seniors, took part in the competition with the top teams winning tuition scholarships for college education. Competition finalists will also be invited on an expenses paid trip to New York City where they will present their solution to a panel of Ph.D mathematicians. An additional Technical Computing Award is presented to honor teams for their exceptional use of computer programming in their solution.
Our four students put their math skills to the test as they worked together as a team for 14 hours straight to solve the problem they were presented with. They then documented and submitted their findings in a 15 to 20 page paper summarizing their results.
Dominique Lomax, one of our Mathematics teachers at CATS Boston, explained “This competition is extremely challenging as it requires students to work for 14 hours without stopping, as well as write a 15 page research paper. Students are used to completing tests or solving problems with a bunch of equations, but having to explain their answers in words in a research style paper is very different for them.”
“I think it is a great experience for the students. This year’s problem was about homelessness and the unhoused population in America which is an important issue to discuss and analyze.”
One of the benefits of our students participating in extra-curricular opportunities such as the M3 Math Challenge is that they are able to see how math can be used in the real world. Students experience what it is like to approach an open-ended problem without a clear solution or approach which simulates problems they will come across later in life.
A core part of student life at CATS Boston is the plethora of opportunities students are offered outside of the classroom to enrich their learning and support their personal growth. Top universities in the United States look for well-rounded individuals with a passion for their subject, and involvement in the M3 Math Challenge is the ideal opportunity to demonstrate this.
Find out more about the extracurricular activities, club and excursions offered at CATS Academy Boston.
