100,000 Kiwi kids count down to World Maths Day

100,000 Kiwi kids count down to World Maths Day

With just a few days to go before the world’s biggest online education event, more than 100,000 students around New Zealand are training hard to in an effort to become New Zealand’s World Maths Day champions.

World Maths Day 2010 kicks off in New Zealand at 12am on Wednesday, and continues for as long as it’s 3 March somewhere in the world. With more than 4 million ‘mathletes’ expected to take part in this year’s event, participants are on track to set a world record for the largest online maths competition.

Students compete in real time to correctly answer mental arithmetic questions in quick-fire 60 second games. The focus is on speed and accuracy and students are matched according to their age and ability no matter where they live in the world.

World Maths Day is free and open to all school students. All they need is access to the internet and to register online by 1 March at www.worldmathsday.com.

Yvonne Blanch, Chief Executive of 3P Learning, the company who created and host the annual event, said, “This year we’re attempting to set a Guinness World Record™ for the Largest Online Maths Competition, and with over 3 million students from 227 countries already registered and practising online, we’re well on our way.

“In 2009, close to two million students from 204 countries correctly answered 452,681,681 questions during the event. We’re encouraging students and schools to sign up and start practising, help us beat last year’s record, and have some fun along the way”.

There are some exciting changes for this year’s event. There is a new format with multi-levels for all age groups and for the first time teachers, parents and other adults are invited to participate and test their maths skills. Participants can also take part in World Maths Day from their iPhone and iPod Touch.

New Zealand World Maths Day Ambassadors Campbell Benseman (8) from Wellesley College in Wellington and Pyong Her (12) from Glenavon School in Auckland have been working to spread the word and encourage everyone to get involved.

Pyong said, “I’ve been advertising World Maths Day at school and I’m really stoked that all my friends are so enthusiastic about the event. There are students practising on the site all around me!”

Prime Minister John Key has replied to a letter from 8-year-old Campbell with a message of support for the event.

“From counting and working out change at the dairy, right through to balancing the nation’s finances and calculating the orbits of the planets, maths is an important part of our lives. It’s great to see so many young Kiwis getting involved, learning about maths, and having fun.”

The top students in each age category will be invited to compete in live play-offs in the National Schools Challenge, held as part of the Planet 2010: Visit the Future conference at Auckland’s SkyCity on March 13 (www.planet2010.co.nz).

World Maths Day is run on 3P Learning’s unique game engine Live Mathletics, part of the Mathletics learning platform – www.mathletics.co.nz. Tens of thousands of New Zealand students use Mathletics each day at home and at school as part of their maths learning.

“We all know that being good at maths is critical for a child’s development and self esteem and Mathletics helps by making maths exciting and relevant,” said Yvonne.

“And during World Maths Day it’s wonderful to see the satisfaction students get from putting their skills on the line and seeing how their mental arithmetic improves. I’m really looking forward to New Zealand mathletes giving it their best shot on 3 March.”

ENDS

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