PCC’s Downtown Campus to Host Math Competition

October 15, 2012

High School Teams Test Their Knowledge of Proofs, Formulas and Theorems

Tucson, AZ – High school students who know how to compute the area of a circle, among other mathematical formulas, will converge on Pima Community College’s Downtown Campus this week to test their knowledge of proofs, theorems and more.

The College’s annual Mathematics Competition brings together high school freshmen and sophomores for a full day of activities aimed at expanding their appreciation of what Albert Einstein called “the poetry of logical ideas.”

“We want to celebrate youth achievement in mathematics,” said Diane Lussier, a member of College’s math faculty. “This is an opportunity for students across the city to flex their math muscles in a fun competition that focuses on mathematics excellence,”

An equally important goal, Lussier said, is to strengthen the close, long-standing relationship between the College and local high schools.

Last year, 114 students from 19 area schools participated in the competition, which awards medals to the top six freshman and the top six sophomores. The high school team with the highest score takes home a trophy.

This year’s competition has as its keynote speaker Dr. Dana Biddulph of the University of Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. The lab is world renowned for its radiocarbon dating techniques, which have been used to determine the age of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Shroud of Turin.

The Oct. 19 competition is the seventh hosted by PCC. Questions should be directed to Lussier at 206-7115 or dlussier@pima.edu.

As for computing the area of a circle, take pi (3.14159) and multiply it by the square of the circle's radius.

CONTACT:
C.J. Karamargin
Vice Chancellor for Public Information and Government Relations
(520) 206-4850
ckaramargin@pima.edu