Over 110 students from seven Southern California middle schools competed at Sage Hill for Math Field Day on Feb. 15. The competition tested many different aspects of the students’ mathematical and STEM skills, ranging from mental math to engineering events, and even a test of the students’ critical thinking. 

Math Field Day was brought back by Mathematics Department Chair Dr. Drew Ishii and Math teacher Rena Dear after a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic and the event has become increasingly competitive.

The students started in the Argyros Family Lecture Hall for the mental math sections, where they were tasked with challenging questions they had to solve in a short amount of time. After the mental math section, proctors led teams of students to their respective rooms for the algebra section, where they were tested on their foundation of different algebraic topics. The brain teasers section that followed tested the students’ critical thinking ability and how well they dealt with unfamiliar and strange situations. That section included puzzles that required the students to think outside the box, including turning the page upside down.

Students were then given a break before beginning the geometry and number theory section that required them to be proficient in understanding how and why mathematical concepts work. Many students found this section to be the hardest part since it touched on many of the topics that they will encounter at a much higher level of mathematics. Others also expressed their gratitude for an opportunity to expand their mathematical knowledge.

After another break, students started on the engineering event. The engineering event challenged the students to build a tower as high as they could with only spaghetti and fettuccine. They were allowed to break the pasta but would get a point deduction if they traded in a broken pasta for a new one. This feature introduced a new dimension to the thought process of the students, where they had to think about the risks and rewards of breaking the pasta. The students came up with many different creative, ingenious, and innovative tower designs. Some teams opted for the more stable approach by using sound structures in the form of triangles, whereas others tried to build a tower straight up with few supports.

The engineering event was followed by lunch, where the students prepared themselves for the countdown event. Each school chose one student from their 6th grade and one student from their 7th or 8th grade to compete in a round-robin style competition, where the question would be read out to the students and the first one to press a buzzer got a chance to answer the question. The competition was fierce within the different schools, with many close calls and exciting moments.

Finally, the Sage Hill Math Field Day Team announced the winners for each section and the winners of the overall competition. However, the contest for 1st place was intense during this event.

Math Field Day Team’s captain, Senior Dory Ding, this competition was successful and exciting. 

“Even though Mathcounts happened on the same day, we still had [a] good amount of participants. The event was smooth, and everyone had fun at the engineering challenge,” Dory said.