OCMC Logo

 

Orange County Math Circle News

January 15, 2013
January 2013
In This Issue
Problem of the Month
2013 New Year Invitational
AMC 8 Award Ceremony
2013 AMC 10/12 Registration
MATHCOUNTS Preparation
AMC 10 and 12 Preparation
UCI Math Circle Meeting
OC Scholar
About OC Math Circle

 

The Orange County Math Circle was founded in 2007 by math enthusiast Johnny Li (Harvard University, Class of 2015) to bring his experience from San Diego Math Circle to share with more students in his hometown.  Please read Orange County Math Circle, A Service Learning Project by Dr. Michelle Muratori of Johns Hopkins University to learn more about its history.
 
Johnny also published an article titled "Orange County Math Circle: Where Math and Service Meet" in Imagine Magazine, May 2011.
Problem of the Month

Congratulations to Jane Shen, the winner of the November Problem of the Month! The answer to last month's problem was 8. 


January's Problem:

If the sum of the bases of a trapezoid equals the perimeter of an equilateral triangle and the trapezoid's height equals the triangle's height, what is the ratio of the area of the equilateral triangle to the area of the trapezoid?

 

Please submit all answers to: [email protected]. The participant who submits the correct answer first will receive a prize.

Have any ideas for the next problem of the month? Please submit your problem ideas to [email protected].

 

2013 New Year Invitational - a MATHCOUNTS Scrimmage  

To have an exciting afternoon filled with math and fun, come to the 2013 New Year Invitational hosted by the Orange County Math Circle! It will be held at University High School on January 19, 2013, from 1 to 5 PM. The format will be similar to the MATHCOUNTS competition, with a Sprint round of 30 problems and a Target round of 8 problems, as well as a Team Round. At the very end, there will be an extremely fascinating round called the Countdown Round in which a few of the top placers compete in speed. Fifth to eighth graders, come to reunite with old friends, make new friends, and most of all, have fun! Visit the OCMC New Year Invitational Event Page to register.

AMC 8 Award Ceremony

All students who took the AMC 8 with the Orange County Math Circle and received honors and distinctions are invited to attend the award ceremony.  All will be recognized at the start of the New Year's Invitational award ceremony around 4:30pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013 at University High School, Irvine, CA. Awards will be available for pick up on site anytime during the event. Here is the AMC 8 results.

2013 AMC 10/12 Registration

 
 
Orange County Math Circle will be hosting 2013 AMC 10/12 A and B. The AMC 10 A and 12 A will be held on February 5th from 7:-00 - 8:30 PM and the AMC 10 B and 12 B will be on February 20th from 7:00 - 8:30 PM. For the registration link, click here for AMC 10A/12A and here for AMC 10B/12B. Please note that time and location are subject to change. Please look out for updates prior to the contest. Good luck to all participants!  

MATHCOUNTS Preparation

 
  
OC Math Circle is offering free MATHCOUNTS classes for the upcoming competition in February. Former MATHCOUNTS competitors are teaching 6-8 grade students key concepts and problem solving techniques through practice tests and other engaging activities. Even those not planning to compete this year are welcome to attend these classes to gain valuable skills and practice. 
 
The next class will be on Saturday, January 26, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM at Concordia University. A registration email will be sent out a few days prior to the event, so please be on the lookout for it. On January 26, we will also have a guest lecturer Noel Galang, a UCI student who will be talking about MC Escher's Drawings, an intriguing subject related to math. For dates of future classes, please check the OCMC calendar. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer as a mentor, please contact either Wendy Wei or Dennis Shim.
AMC 10 and 12 Preparation

 

Orange County Math Circle is hosting an AMC 10 and 12 preparation session on January 20, 2013 from 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM at UCI Natural Sciences II Room 1201 (Campus Map). Students will work through a completely original mock AMC 10 or 12 test, and solutions to selected problems will be explained afterwards. This is a great opportunity to sharpen your problem solving techniques for the upcoming AMC 10 and 12. Please contact Eric Xu or Yelena Mandelshtam if you have any questions.

UCI Math Circle Meeting

 

The next UCI Math Circle meeting will be on January 26, 2013 from 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM at UCI Natural Sciences II Room 1201. See here for more information. If you have any questions, please contact Eric Xu or Yelena Mandelshtam.

OC Scholar

What is Science Olympiad?

  

Twenty-nine years ago, the Science Olympiad foundation was established as a small tournament in Michigan. Since then, the success of the program spread like wildfire, expanding across the nation and becoming one of the premiere science competitions in America.

 As one of the most prestigious science competitions, it offers challenging, standards-based contests at the building, district, county, state, and nation-wide levels. Each year, Science Olympiad provides a large array of interesting events to widen the exposure of science to students across America