Benet Math Team Information

The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell. - St. Augustine.
An interesting article on the Glendbard South math team. (From the Chicago Tribune)

NSML Competition #1: Circles

No Calculators Algebraic Coordinate Geometry including Circles: standard material including power theorems, arcs, angles, area, inscribed and circumscribed polygons, sectors and segments, and equations of circles. Coordinates are included. No trig.
Date
 Material
4 September 2007
 Circles homework
11 September 2007
18 September 2007
 Probability. Handouts (with solutions) are here and here.
25 September 2007

2 October 2007

3 October 2007
Meet #1 at Barrington

Steps in Problem Solving


(adapted and expanded from G. Polya's book, and available through Amazon here. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.)

Understand the Problem

  • What is the unknown?
  • What is the data?
  • What are the conditions?
  • What form should the solutions be in?

    • Devise A Plan

  • Do you know how to solve it? If not,
  • Can you solve a related problem?
  • Can you solve a simpler problem?
  • Can you solve - or find - a special case?
  • Can you solve a more general problem?
  • Is there some pattern you can find and exploit?
  • Is there some auxilliary element you could add?
  • Can you solve part of the problem? Does restating what's left help?

    • Carry Out The Plan

    Looking Back

  • Check your answer
  • What have you learned from the problem? What strategies worked? What strategies did not? What will you do the same next time? What will you do differently?

    • Fun and Facts

  • Dr. LeCompte can be emailed at thegooddoctor@benetmathteam.org
  • Check this page (http://www.benetmathteam.org) often.
  • Heidi Burgeil's wonderful article How to Lose at Tetris
  • Some files here require Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer to view them. If it's not installed, you can get it (free) by clicking here: [Get Acrobat Reader]
  • Slow connections? Be patient - the computer that hosts this web site weighs a little less than 5 pounds. It's working as hard as it can.
     

    [ Poweredby Apache ]

    [ Poweredby Red Hat Linux ]