This page describes the contests that Meridian Park usually participates in. There are onsite as well as offsite contests. Offsite contests are generally on Friday afternoon or Saturday and vary by grade. Some of them occur on multiple dates through the year or on different dates for different grade levels, check our our calendar for the exact dates and times. We encourage all mathletes to participate in these contests however participation is not mandatory.
These descriptions are roughly arranged in chronological order of first occurrence through the year.
AMC 8
Contest Organizers’ Website | Practice Tests | 2016 Instructions for Contest Managers | Event Info for Students & Families
The AMC 8 is a premier contest for young mathletes around the world. All students are eligible until 8th grade. In our club, this contest is generally taken by 5th- and 6th-graders. The contest is usually administered on our school campus or at Einstein, after school on a Tuesday in mid-November.
The contest lasts 40 minutes, with 25 multiple-choice questions (choices A-E). There is no penalty for guessing; blank answers and incorrect answers count the same. This is an individual contest (no team collaboration). No calculators allowed.
Topics covered include proportions and ratios; prime numbers, factors, and multiples; geometry of triangles, rectangles, and circles; algebra and logic (deduction, working backwards, organized lists); counting possibilities (arrangements, paths, etc.); and probability.
Math Olympiad for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) Level E
This contest occurs onsite, in the math club class, once a month from November to March. All grade levels compete simultaneously.
Website | Practice Tests (unavailable) | Study Guide | Rules and Details | Dates, Format, and Awards
Format The MOEMS contest is administered as a series of 5 exams. Students take the tests in our school during math club class, once a month from November to March. Each test has 5 problems and lasts about 25 minutes.
Preparation We produce paper booklets for younger students which contain practice problems from previous years. Due to a restrictive copyright, MOEMS problems are not available on the web, nor can they be distributed on our website.
Calculators are not allowed in this contest.
Be sure to check out their rulebook and message to parents. Their “What Every Mathlete Should Know” guide is an excellent summary of all the math you need to know for MOEMS.
Math Is Cool Championships
This contest occurs offsite, usually at Mt. Rainier High School in Des Moines WA, on Friday evenings. Different grade levels compete on different days (February-April).
Website | Practice Tests | Rules | Schedule | Dates and Locations | Event Info Page
The Math Is Cool Championships contest is a highlight of the year for Math Club students. This usually takes place at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines, WA. Each grade level is accommodated on a different day: 6th-graders in February, 5th-graders in March, and 3rd- and 4th-graders in April. (Note: the mid-April contest is called “4th Grade Math Is Cool” but they permit our 3rd-graders to compete there.)
Students leave school at 1:30pm on a Friday afternoon, arrive at the contest site around 3:15pm (accounting for Friday afternoon traffic through Seattle), and begin taking the tests around 4:00pm. There is a dinner break at 6pm (we usually preorder pizza) followed by the College Bowl round, where parents can watch.
Students enjoy the unorthodox format of this contest:
- mental math
- individual contest
- team multiple choice (with penalty for incorrect guesses)
- team contest
- math relay (get an answer and hand it to the next student to use)
- college bowl (teams buzz in with answers)
Students also enjoy leaving school early!
Take note of the “Rules” link above. The scoring and tie-breaking rules for this contest are complex and it’s worth reading through them before you go.
Calculators are not allowed in this contest.
Shoreline Math Olympiad (SMO)
This contest occurs offsite on a Saturday morning, usually at Shoreline Community College, in early to mid March. Multiple grade levels compete simultaneously. Calculators are allowed, but only on the team tests.
The Shoreline Math Olympiad is free to all 4th-8th grade students who go to school in Shoreline, whether they are in a math club or not. It typically occurs on a Saturday morning in early to mid March, at Shoreline Community College. If you are not part of the math club please read the SMO faq for more details.
Students take two individual rounds (each one consisting of 3 mental-math problems and 15 multiple-choice problems), then take two team rounds (7 problems each) in teams of four.
After a lunch break, there is entertainment for students while papers are graded, followed by awards.
Calculators are allowed in this contest, but only on the team tests.
Please note: Effective in 2016, 3rd-graders and below may not compete in Shoreline Math Olympiad. This policy will be strictly enforced by our math club and by the contest organizers.
Washington State Mathematics Championships (“Blaine”)
Website | Practice Tests | Rules and Details | Schedule | Dates and Locations
WSMC consists of six tests: one thirty-problem individual test and five team tests, covering Algebra, Geometry, Potpourri, Probability, and Mental Math. Each individual must compete as part of a team; each team must be specified as belonging to the 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade division. The top fifteen individuals in grades 5 and 6, the top ten individuals in grades 7 and 8, and top ten teams in each division will receive awards.
Washington State Mathematics Council Math Olympiad (WSMC, or WSMC-MO)
This contest occurs offsite, usually at Seattle University’s Pigott Building, on a Saturday morning in early May.
Website | Practice Tests | Study Guide | Rules and Details | Schedule | Day of Event Info
This is a contest that is all team-based. There are no individual events. Students get a one-hour long problem to solve, followed by a series of five short topical tests. Awards are given out to teams that reach a certain standard; teams are not ranked.
MATHCOUNTS
Announcement and Summary | Website | Practice Tests | Rules and Details | Dates and Locations
The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a national program that provides students the opportunity to compete in live, in-person contests against and alongside their peers. Created in 1983, it is the longest-running MATHCOUNTS program and is open to all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students. The Competition Series has 4 levels of competition—school, chapter, state and national. Each level of competition is comprised of 4 rounds—Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown Round. Altogether the rounds are designed to take about 3 hours to complete.
Meridian Park Math Club 