AMC 8 Results

As you may recall, students took the AMC 8 contest back in November, and we wanted to report on how they did!

The AMC 8 is a 25 question contest, and it's quite challenging.  This year, 149,277 students nationwide took the contest.  The median (middle) student scored 8 -- less than a third of the questions answered correctly!  To score in the top 25% percentile, students had to score at least 11.  Only 90 students across the world got a perfect score. 

Of the 12 students who took the contest, 9 scored above 8 questions correct, putting them above the nationwide average.  Good work, everyone!  We are particularly impressed by Ahmed, whose score of 13 puts him the top quartile nationwide. BEAM is sure this a sign of future success yet to come.  

Winter Party

With all of our important academic events, it's great to also make time for BEAM students to come together and just hang out!  Every December and June, BEAM hosts a party for students in grades 8-12 to get together with their friends, eat, and play games. 

It was wonderful to see old friends and new get together!  Enjoy some photos of students and staff having a great time together:

Saturday Office Hours

Every Thursday and one weekend a month, BEAM hosts "Office Hours".  Just as in college, students can bring anything they're working on and receive help or advice from staff and volunteers. 

Here's a list of things we worked on this weekend at Office Hours:

• Ayinde helped students prepare to take the SCAT next weekend, the first step to attending summer programs at the Center for Talented Youth (CTY)
• Amy helped Jahleel with Algebra 1
• Lynn helped Veronica with 8th grade math homework
• Ryan helped DeVaune with Geometry
• Dan led the monthly Math Team meeting, with the 8th graders preparing for MATHCOUNTS

Students also had time to take a break and eat a snack with friends. 

By the time BEAM students get to college, they will be in the habit of seeking out help as needed!

BEAM Students Participate in the AMC 8

On Tuesday, November 18, BEAM students (and thousands of 8th graders across the country) participated in the AMC 8.  Taken by the strongest 8th grade mathematicians nationwide, the AMC 8 is both challenging and fun.

The AMC 8 is 25 multiple-choice questions, administered over 40 minutes. When the contest ended, students got to request solutions to the problems they didn't understand, making sure that the day was a learning opportunity as well!  Most of the solutions were presented by Lynn, our Director of Programs, but Ezelle (an 8th grader) practically jumped out of her seat when it was time to discuss problem #18. Here's the problem she was so excited to solve:

Here's how Ezelle solved it:

• You know the top row has to grow 24 over 4 terms, so each number must be 6 more than the prior number.  That gives you 1, 7, 13, 19, 25.
• You know the bottom row has to grow by 64 over 4 terms, so each number must be 16 more than the prior number.  That gives you 17, 33, 49, 65, 81.
• Now, to get to X, you only have solve the middle column. 
• You know the middle column has to grow from 13 to 49, which is 36 over 4 terms, so each number must be 9 more than the number above.  That gives you 13, 22, 31, 40, 49.
• X is in the middle square of the middle column, so X must be 31.

When asked how she figured it out, Ezelle credited a favorite class from last summer, Cory's class titled "Integer Sequences", for teaching her how to think about sequences and series. Nice work, Ezelle! (And a hat tip to Cory, as well!)

Ezelle with her finished work. 

You can find the full list of 2015 questions and solutions here. We promise more updates when we get students results back!

BEAM Featured in Chalkbeat New York

Chalkbeat New York traveled to Bard College last July to see classes, and then joined BEAM for our trip to Yale Splash.  The result is a wonderful profile of our program.  Click through to Chalkbeat to read the full story. 

BEAM Goes to Yale Splash

Every fall, BEAM heads to Yale for our favorite field trip of the year, Yale Splash!  Splash is a day where college students open the campus to students in grades 7-12, and the college students teach their younger peers college-like courses.  This year, students choose from classes including:

• Mathematical Paradoxes
• The Basics of Improv
• Environmental Justice
• Origami Workshop
• Chemical Biology
• Making a Robot
• Decoding Language
• Game Theory
• Introductory French
• College Admissions
• Beatlemania
• The Grid
• Meditation
• Foundations of Feminism in Medieval Text
• The Reeb Foliation of the 3-Sphere
• What makes a dinosaur a dinosaur?

After a busy day of class, students took a tour of campus and had dinner in Yale's historic colleges.  Many took an opportunity to sleep on the ride back to New York City after such a busy day!

Read more about Yale Splash on their website.