Mathematics Special Interest Group
Our Mission
The purpose of the Mathematics special interest group is to transform practice through professional learning opportunities that feature leading practice and are evidence-led; a further goal is, where appropriate, to create research and/or research opportunities around particular problems of practice.
Meet the committee
Rebecca Murry
Özge Gültekin
Will Kirkwood
Aysegul Yildirim
James Ballard
Emily Sliman
What an event!
Thank you to everyone who helped to make Maths Quest 2024 a huge success. To the American School of Barcelona, thank you for being such a wonderful host school. We welcomed 15 schools, 16 teams, & 64 students during three packed days of healthy competition, and we were delighted to be back face-to-face for the first time since 2019. A special thanks to the ECIS Maths Special Interest Group for all of their hard work to make this happen. 1st place was awarded to Eyuboglu Schools, with Enka Schools and American School of Barcelona G5 finishing in joint 2nd place. We will have more details very soon about Maths Quest 2025. You can learn more about the structure of the event below.
Individual Challenge: Online Event
STUDENTS WORK INDEPENDENTLY
to complete 4 rounds of 8 questions(worth 1 point each). The students in a team work on a different round at the same time. Each round lasts for 16 minutes (128 points available).
Team Challenge
EACH TEAM WORKS ON
a set of 5 questions worth 2 points each.
4 ROUNDS
16 minutes per-round (40 points available)
PRACTICAL CHALLENGE
EACH TEAM WORKS ON
a set of 3 problems worth 10 points each.
20 MINUTES
to solve each problem (30 points available).
All teams are taken to a location either in the host town or a local museum. Students have to complete a series of questions (usually 11) in this location (22 points available). Often after the Math Trail all students do a tour of the city.
Individual Challenge
Students work independently to complete 4 rounds of 8 questions (worth 1 point each). The students in a team work on a different round at the same time. Each round lasts for 16 minutes (128 points available).
Team Challenge
Each team works together on a set of 5 questions (worth 2 points each). There are 4 rounds and there are 16 minutes per round (40 points available).
Practical Challenge
Each team works together on 3 problems (worth 10 points each). Each team has 20 minutes to solve each problem (30 points available).
Often half a day
Investigations
Each team works together on 3 problems. Each problem is timed (maximum 20 minutes).
When they complete a problem their elapsed time is recorded. If they get the answer correct they receive a score based on how long it took to complete the problem. Often the score is broken down as follows 5 minutes = 10 points, 10 minutes = 7 points, 15 minutes = 5 points, 20 minutes = 3 points. (30 points available).
Construction Challenge
For this challenge teams are mixed. Each team is made up of 4 students from different schools. The new teams are provided materials and have to construct a specified thing (in Oslo it was a ski jump where you had to jump a marble off, etc). There is 60 minutes to complete the task. This challenge is judged on the criteria set by the host school (height, strength, distance, teamwork, etc). There are no points available for this but a prize is given to the “best” construction.
Further Information
We have put together a collection of many of the competition questions from throughout the years. It is a huge resource and it fantastic to use to help prepare teams for future Math Quests and also can be helpful to find challenging activities for math classes.
Request access to the papers
We have also put together information for schools who are planning to host a future Math Quest tournament. This information will hopefully guide you through the process and help ensure the event is a great success.
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