## 10th Annual PIMS Elementary Grades Math Contest, ELMACON 2008

• Date: 05/03/2008
Location:

University of British Columbia, Buchanan A Building

Topic:

Registration is now open!
Registration for ELMACON 2008 will be online as well as by cheque. The registration fee for online registrations is $15, and the fee by cheque is$17. The registration fee is non-refundable. For those who register by cheque, we must receive your registration fee by April 10, 2008 or you will lose your seat. We will not accept any payments on the day of the event.
You will be able to look up your seat number after you register. Please print out your seat number. This is your ticket and you must bring it with you to the contest.
We need a lot of volunteers to run ELMACON. If you are interested in helping please fill out the online form.
This contest -- organized by PIMS under the guidance of Dr. Cary Chien, formerly of David Thompson Secondary School in collaboration with the BCAMT and volunteers from Lower Mainland school of Grades 5 to 7, at nominal cost to students. It gives them a chance to experience mathematics as an exciting sport.
Participants will be given a snack and a drink during the refreshment break. All materials for the contest will be provided (pencils, erasers, paper). Note that no calculators are allowed.

Description:

Format
The contest is modelled after the successful MathCounts competitions (which are also supported by PIMS)---with some important differences, since it is aimed at younger students.
Students from each of grades 5, 6, and 7 will compete in separate divisions. Each division will enjoy three rounds of competition, as outlined below.
Note that no calculators are allowed.
1 Sprint
In the sprint round there will be a total of 25 to 30 questions. The participants will have 40 minutes to finish the questions.
Here is a sample question:
Ex.: Determine the sum of the following series: 1 + 3 + 5 + ... + 197 + 199.
2 Target
The target round has three one-page tests. Participants have exactly ten minutes to work on each page; paging forward or backward is strictly forbidden. (In May 2000 a contestant was disqualified for breaking this rule, to the great distress of all involved, including the organizers.)
Ex: There six people in a room. If each of them shakes hands with all the others, how many handshakes will there be in total?
3 Countdown
The top ten students in each division -- determined by combined scores from Sprint and Target rounds (with correct answers in the latter counting double) -- will participate in countdown round, which is a series of individual battles.
The tenth ranking student will first go up against the ninth, the winner will then face the eighth, and so on. A projector will display one question at a time, and the contestants may ring a buzzer -- within a certain time limit -- as soon as they have an answer. If it is correct, a point is scored; otherwise the opponent will have the rest of the time limit to come up with the solution. This is repeated several times to determine which of the two will advance. When the challenger gets to the fourth ranking student, advancing gets a bit more difficult. Eventually an overall winner is found.

Other Information: hide

Programme
10:00 Doors open to the building
10:15–11:00 Seat Assignments & Instructions read Participants must present their validated admission ticket
11:00 CONTEST BEGINS (all contestants must be seated)
11:00–11:15 Opening remarks and Instructions (There will be no admission into the rooms during this time)
11:15–12:05pm Sprint Round (26 questions in 50 minutes)
(All parents are invited to join the Parent Information Session from 11:15am to 12:15pm, where they can learn more about math opportunities for the their children in Buchanan A 202.)
12:05pm–12:25pm Restroom Break
12:25pm–12:40pm Instructions given for Target Round
12:35pm–1:10pm Target Round (3 sets of 4 questions with 12 minutes for each set)
1:10pm–2:45pm Lunch Break. Please bring your own packed lunch.
Problem Solving Workshop in Buchanan A 104
2:45pm–3:00pm Countdown competitors announced
3:00pm–3:45pm Countdown round
3:45pm Award Ceremony

Registration
To register, please visit: http://www.pims.math.ca/education/2008/08elmacon/register/

Sponsor: