Competitions
All Archimedes students are encouraged to participate in competitions happening from October through May. Competitions introduce students to creative challenges in an enjoyable way, inspiring interests in solving problems by fostering self-confidence.
We have carefully selected the following competitions to ensure logical reasoning and analytical thinking are the key skills being tested.
Math Kangaroo
The Math Kangaroo competition emphasizes creative problem-solving, math reasoning and logic. Students are given 24 or 30 challenging and creative problems depending on grade which are sorted in 3 categories by difficulty level. The problems require logical reasoning and are very fun to work on.
Problems from the previous years can be found at Kangaroo US.
Noetic Learning Fall and Spring
The Noetic Learning math competition is a semiannual problem solving contest whose goal is to encourage students' interest in math, to develop their problem solving skills, and to inspire them to excel in math. During the contest, students are given 45 minutes to solve 20 problems. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to enrich their problem solving experiences.
Problems from previous years can be found at the Noetic Learning page. Click here for the sample problems.
American Mathematics Competitions
The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development of problem-solving skills. The AMC 8 provides an opportunity for middle school students to develop positive attitudes towards analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers. Students apply classroom skills to unique problem-solving challenges in a low-stress and friendly environment.
The material covered on the AMC 8 includes topics from a typical middle school mathematics curriculum. Possible topics include but are not limited to: counting and probability, estimation, proportional reasoning, elementary geometry including the Pythagorean Theorem, spatial visualization, everyday applications, and reading and interpreting graphs and tables. In addition some of the later questions may involve linear or quadratic functions and equations, coordinate geometry, and other topics traditionally covered in a beginning algebra course.
The AMC 10 and AMC 12 are both 25-question, 75-minute, multiple-choice examinations in high school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem-solving skills.
The AMC 10 is for students in 10th grade and below, and covers the high school curriculum up to 10th grade. Students in grade 10 or below and under 17.5 years of age on the day of the contest can take the AMC 10.
The AMC 12 covers the entire high school curriculum including trigonometry, advanced algebra, and advanced geometry, but excluding calculus. Students in grade 12 or below and under 19.5 years of age on the day of the contest can take the AMC 12.