The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Submitted Article What is 52 minus 28? Do you have a strategy for getting the answer without a pencil and paper? Questions such as this one are the focus of a great couple of days called the World Education Games, which are held annually in the first week of March. This year's contest involved more than 5.5 million students from over 200 countries and territories. Flin Flon students from grades 1 to 8 took part. In the math component of the games, the idea is to answer as many mental math problems as you can in 50 one-minute games. It is very important to get them correct as only correct answers get recorded. Type answer Think it is easy? Students have to read the question, decide on an answer and then type in the answer on the keyboard and press 'Enter.' Another question pops up and then you do it all again. An excellent pace would be to consistently complete one question correctly in three seconds. Let's see... one minute = 60 seconds. Sixty divided by three seconds = 20 correct answers in a minute. And 20 times 50 games = a score of 1,000 correct answers. Four Flin Flon students topped the 1,000-correct-answer mark in 50 games, with the top score being 1,212. Students are encouraged to use a math program called mathletics to practice their mental math skills throughout the year. Pictured are some of Flin Flon's top age group achievers in this year's World Math Games.
