Stimulating enthusiasm for problem-solving and mathematics, a retired UCLA professor leads 48 Linwood Howe School students into the last of five national problem-solving rounds this week in the Mathematics Olympiad.
The top 12 local students will advance, May 3, to the County finals.
Some 150,000 fourth through eighth grade students from 5,000 teams worldwide have participated in the competition, which has been held monthly since November.
An Agreeable Formula
Scores of the Culver City youth in the first four rounds have improved over last year’s inaugural team, according to Prof. Jason Frand, a retired Assistant Dean at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
He is the volunteer coach and coordinator of the program.
“My primary goal is to turn the students on to mathematics as a fun and exciting area,” said Mr. Frand.
Ruth Sabean, recently retired Assistant Vice Provost and Director of Educational Technology for the UCLA College of Letters and Science, joined Mr. Frand this year as a team teacher.
“I want to encourage more girls and boys to continue studying math and science,” she said.
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Lin Howe Mathletes with their instructors, top row, from left, Ruth Sabean, Karen Burkenheim and Jason Frand.
Embedding Methods
The coaches want to deepen understanding of mathematical concepts, and explore mathematical concepts that might not otherwise be encountered. The focus is on critical thinking and not arithmetic skills.
For example, solve these two problems from recent competitions (with the answers at end of this story):
A total of 100 men and women are on an airplane. There are 12 more women than men. How many women are on the airplane?
Or:
Using a circle, triangle and rectangle, what is the largest number of intersections you can have?
“The children are extremely positive and upbeat, eager to learn and accepting of the difficult intellectual challenge being placed before them,” Mr. Frand said.
“They come from varying backgrounds and languages.
“They work well together around the mathematical ideas.”
Two years ago at Lin Howe, Mr. Frand offered to mentor a math enrichment program, and Principal Rosalind LaBriola selected the Mathematics Olympiad for Elementary and Middle Schools (www.moems.org) as the vehicle to provide structure for the enrichment program. This program was created in 1977, and it now is in all 50 states and 25 countries.
The fifth-grade teachers, Karen Burkenheim, Greg Holman and Jennifer Thomson, and the fourth-grade teachers Laura De Rojas, Gina Graw and Jeff Rose, identified students who could most benefit from the enrichment program.
The fifth-grade students meet with Ms. Burkenheim for math each day, and the math enrichment sessions are held during math time in her class. The fourth-grade participants meet in the library. They are pulled out from other class activities during two different times on Tuesday and Thursday.
In support of this important academic effort, the Culver City Lions Club once again has donated team tee shirts.
The fifth grade Mathletes are:
Karina Baker, Rebecca Bangasser, Edith Brambla, Taylor Burks, Felix Cardenas, Luis Cardenas, Danielle Castleman, Breauna Dunlap, Andrew Fernandez, Amy Flores, Jasmin Flores, Chandler Gauthier, Maeve Giza, Emily Gottlieb, Michael Jimmenez, Kalden Kyulo, Katie Lovo, Sean Lucas, Timothy Martin, Joseph Masato, Sebastian Moran, Ricky Perez, Andy Rodriguez, Jan Rodriguez, Brian Sanzone, Jay Sterner and Alfredo Telona.
The fourth grade Mathletes are:
Chaz Carter, Ana Garcia, Leahna Geroso, Justin Herrera, Robert Jaso, Evan Jimenez, Kyle Moldwin, Kelvin Murillo, Jackson Niles, Ariana Pacino, Katrina Preiss, Christiana Rodgers, Diana Sanchez, Sabrina Simpson, David Singleton, Samantha Smith, Thanassis Tetradis and Haji Wright.
Answers to the above puzzlers:
There are 56 women on the airplane.
You can draw a circle, triangle and rectangle so that there are 20 intersections.
