On Thursday 6th June, 36 schools competed in the seventh edition of the Team Mathematics Challenge at the Scala College in Alphen aan den Rijn. The competition day itself is coordinated by teachers and students of the Tonbridge Grammar School from the United Kingdom. Completely focussed, first year and second year pupils were working together on mathematical questions. The winner of 2013 is Wartburg College Rotterdam and runner-up is Scala College Alphen aan den Rijn.

Round 1: Group Competition

The contestants are given a set of 10 questions, which they should answer as many as possible in the allotted time.

Round 2: Cross number

Teams are divided into pairs, with one pair given the across clues and one pair given the down clues. Pairs only communicate through the supervisor.

Round 3: Head-to-head

Teams of four compete against each other, standing in a semi-circle. Each competitor in turn is given a chance to guess the value that comes in the sequence.

Round 4: Relay

The aim here is to have a speed competition with teams working in 2 pairs to answer alternate questions. Pairs from the same team are separated requiring the mto move around the room to pick up questions and drop off answers.

Hanna Kochx and Laurence Peeters (P-V2C):

On the 6th of June, at 7.45 we were all present at the Philips van Horne. Together with Pim and Suzanne from the College (C-G1B) we were hoping for a nice day. The trip was very long and we arrived in time. There were four different challenges and in between there were some little breaks. We learned some new things and did exercises with math in a completely different way. Sadly we didn’t become first of second, so we couldn’t go to London for the final contest. But it was a nice challenge and a great experience.