What, when and where?

The 2009 AMS Pi5NY Math Tournament will be held on Saturday, May 9, at Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx.

Who’s in?

It’s open to all 6th, 7th and 8th graders in the 5 boroughs of NYC.

How does it play out?

Schools can register up to 6 teams of exactly 5 students, one to each of the following divisions.
•      6th Grade Varsity
•      6th Grade Junior Varsity
•      7th Grade Varsity
•      7th Grade Junior Varsity
•      8th Grade Varsity
•      8th Grade Junior Varsity

Varsity teams are open to any individual, but these questions are geared toward students who scored 3 or 4 on the State Math Test. Junior Varsity teams are for those who scored 1 or 2; OSIS numbers are required at registration to verify scores.

Part 1

Following a dramatic Olympic-style opening ceremony – complete with the raising of the official Pi-nata - each team pits their wits and math skills against others in their grade/division in a 40 minute competition.

There are a number of different problems with point values ranging from 100-500 points – meaning that, as well as answering as many as you can correctly, teams have to strategize how many hard/easy ones to attempt. The team with the highest score wins their division.

Part 2

The second part of the tournament is a Borough v Borough contest. One student from each team of 5 battles off with the other 4 boroughs in a “Mental Math Bee” – first to buzz and answer correctly earns points for their borough.

What’s it all add up to?

Apart from being a fun, frazzled, full-focus day of inspirational math, there’ll be an Awards Ceremony to close the proceedings, at which the Grand Pi Trophy is presented to the division winner with the highest overall score. Each division’s winning team will receive a Pi trophy, while each member of the 2nd and 3rd place teams is awarded a medal.

What’s that noise?

This is math as a spectator sport – with constantly updated scores and rankings to fuel the excitement – so audience participation is a big part of the equation. Cheering sticks, kazoos and other surprises will be provided for families and friends coming along to support their school teams.