The Challenge 24 Math Competition took place at Greenview Upper Elementary on Thursday, February 18, 2016. This was the first year for the tournament, but it is hoped that it can be repeated next year.
Participants play the 24 Game, which involves a deck of cards, each showing four whole numbers between 1 and 9. When presented with a card, the players strive to be the first to combine the four numbers to make 24 using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Many cards have more than one solution. The game can be surprisingly challenging, but the students involved in the Challenge 24 competition have been practicing in their classrooms and are quite good. Many are able to solve the equations quite quickly.
After several rounds of play, this year’s winners for the 24 Math Challenge were determined. Darwin Hines earned a gold medal, Sujing Chen earned a silver medal and both Gio Tripi and Matt Monah received a bronze medal. Each participant in this year’s competition received a math wrist band and a 24 Math t-shirt. But most importantly, the students have become more proficient with mental math, communicating mathematically, validating their thinking, and recognizing multiple ways to solve problems. The added benefit, of course, is that all this thinking and problem solving is disguised as a game!
