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A Day that Really Counts for NZ Kids

A Day that Really Counts for NZ Kids

Competition date: Thursday 2 August 2012

Primary and secondary school students in New Zealand will join hundreds of thousands of students from more than 40 countries to take part in the 35th annual Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) on Thursday 2 August.

Students of all levels of ability, from all types of schools in vastly different locations around the country will sit a 75-minute secondary paper or 60-minute primary paper, which contains quirky questions with an emphasis on fun and problem solving.

The AMC is the first and believed to be one of the largest competitions of its kind in the world, with more than 1100 prizes and 60 medals awarded annually. Since it began in 1978, it has become a truly international event, attracting more than 14 million entries over that time.

This year, there are entries from more than 40 countries across the Asia Pacific area, where it is regarded as the benchmark event, Europe, and Africa. Entries from Iran doubled and both Hong Kong and Indonesia had a significant increase in their numbers. There was an increase in both schools and overall numbers in Trinidad and Tobago.

Professor Peter Taylor, Executive Director of the not-for-profit Australian Mathematics Trust, which administers the Competition, said, 'The AMC is able to test a student's normal classroom skills and further, their ability to adapt to new situations, using known mathematics to solve a problem in a new context'.

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'The AMC identifies many talented young mathematicians who go on to participate in Olympiad programs, can lead to them competing in the International Olympiads in Mathematics and Informatics and bringing home medals for New Zealand. Ultimately it opens up vastly more career opportunities as the demand for a technologically skilled work force increases', he added.

Students who are outstanding both within their country or Australian state and overall in the Competition are awarded medals at annual ceremonies. This year the New Zealand AMC Medals ceremony is being hosted by the Minister of Education, the Honourable Hekia Parata, in the Parliament Buildings in Wellington in early November.

The Trust is under the Trusteeship of the University of Canberra. Support for the AMC also comes from the Canberra Mathematical Association.

The following sample question appeared in the 2011 Intermediate paper (NZ Years 10 and 11). Problem: Three people play a game with a total of 24 counters where the result is always that one person loses and two people win. The loser must then double the number of counters that each of the other players has at that time. At the end of three games, each player has lost one game and each person has 8 counters. At the beginning, Holly had more counters than either of the others. How many did she have at the start? (A) 9 (B) 11 (C) 13 (D) 16 (E) 24

Answer: (C) 13 Method: At the end of the game, each player has 8 counters, so 24 counters are used in the game. Working backwards with players A, B and C, assume C lost the last game, B the second and A the first. Last Game: A8, B8, C8 2nd game: A4, B4, C16 1st game: A2, B14, C8 Beginning: A13, B7, C4.

This means that Holly started with 13 counters.

ENDS

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