Extension Program

2019 Galway Mathematical Olympiad

Select students from Years 7, 8 and 9 competed in the Annual Galway Maths Olympiad held at Southern Cross Grammar on Thursday 10 October. This event was hosted by Southern Cross Grammar and schools from the North-West region participated. The Olympiad involved students working in teams to tackle three challenging mathematical problems within a time frame. These consisted of:

  • A maths relay where students had to work together to solve as many worded problems of increasing difficulty.
  • A STEM activity which required the students to work collaboratively against a criteria and budget constraints to design and build a model of the next skyscraper for the City of Melbourne.
  • Logical and spatial reasoning tasks that required the students to visualise and manipulate shapes to solve mathematical puzzles. 

It was a fun day with all students enjoying the fast- paced challenges and the social interaction with students from other schools. Our teams performed well throughout the day with our Year 7 team finishing equal third place, our Year 8 team finishing fourth place, and our Year 9 team achieving second place in this event. Below are some student reflections of the day:

 

On Thursday 10 October, teams of 4 competed against each other in their year levels at Southern Cross Grammar. Our Year 7 team was made up by Luke, Abhay, Rohan and me. The first task was to make a tower using assorted materials which would contribute to building our structure. We had roughly 40-45 minutes to complete this task. We took 20 minutes to plan and then we started constructing our design. We did not do as well as other teams but we managed to accomplish something. The second task was to complete a booklet with problem solving questions. Our team got two booklets and two sheets of boxes to fill in for our solutions. We split up and did half of the booklet each, 2 team members doing one part and the other 2 doing a different part of the booklet. We found most of the questions quite challenging but we managed to solve most of them. The third task was a relay. We were given the questions one at time. We had 3 guesses for each question and a hint on our last guess. We completed 13 questions and got most of them right. When the day came to an end we got told what places we came; our team came 3rd. We all enjoyed doing Maths somewhere else and we were most grateful for the privilege of being able to participate in this event.

by Chenul K (7I)

 

On Thursday 10 October, we went to the Annual Galway Maths Olympiad. My fellow peers Andrew, Xavier and I represented our year level for our school and participated in a series of events testing our mathematical capabilities. We were up against other schools and took part in three separate sessions.

Personally, I found the problem-solving relay the most successful and the spatial problems the most difficult. The day included much teamwork, cooperation and exercised our limits in Maths. We came fourth place, however, I feel we gained much from the experience and learnt a lot from pushing ourselves and working under a time limit.

 

by Malinsa H (8P)

 

On Thursday 10 October, eleven students from Years 7 to 9 travelled by bus to the Galway Maths Olympiad at Southern Cross Grammar. We competed against other schools in three different events. One of the events was the Spatial Awareness Challenge where we worked to complete 20 questions in a limited amount of time. Another event was the Maths Relay in which problems were given to teams one at a time. Once teams solved the problem, a team member had to run the answer to the judges table and if the answer was correct, the judge would give us the next problem, until time was up. The final event was the STEM Challenge where teams had to create model skyscrapers using set materials and a limited budget. The skyscrapers had to be at least 30cm high and hold as many blocks as possible while also being cost effective. In the end, our Year 9 team managed to achieve second place across all events. Overall, the excursion was a great experience which allowed us to develop our mathematics capabilities through a healthy competition.

 

by Eshan P (9A)

 

Well done to all the students who took part in this event.

 

Year 7 Team:

Abhay M, Chenul K, Luke G, Rohan K

 

Year 8 Team:

Andrew S, Malinsa H, Xavier P

 

Year 9 Team:

Eshan P, Sophie H, Tristan C, Zachary G

 

 

Mrs Mary Ann Di Martino

Head of Faculty – Extension Programs