There are several mathematics contests students can participate in.
Grade 9 to 11 Waterloo Mathematics Contests
The Pascal (grade 9), Cayley (grade 10) and Fermat (grade 11) Contests are an opportunity for students to have fun and to develop their mathematical problem solving ability.
Audience
Students in Grade 9 or below are eligible to write the Pascal Contest.
Students in Grade 10 or below are eligible to write the Cayley Contest.
Students in Grade 11 or below are eligible to write the Fermat Contest.
Date
Occurs in February (date to be announced)
Format
- 25 multiple-choice questions
- 60 minutes
- 150 total marks
- any calculator permitted
The contests are written in schools and supervised by teachers.
Mathematical Content
Early questions require only concepts found in the curriculum common to all provinces. The last few questions are designed to test ingenuity and insight. Rather than testing content, most of the contest problems test logical thinking and mathematical problem solving.
Euclid Mathematics Contest (Grade 12)
The Euclid Mathematics Contest is an opportunity for students to have fun and to develop their mathematical problem solving ability.
Audience
Students in their final year of secondary school and motivated students in lower grades.
Date
Occurs in April (date to be announced)
Format
- 10 questions; some answer only and some full solution
- no multiple choice questions
- marks for full solution questions assigned for form and style of presentation
- 2.5 hours
- 100 total marks
- non-programmable calculators permitted provided they are without graphical displays
The contest is written at SDSS and supervised by teachers.
Mathematical Content
Most of the problems will be based on the mathematics curriculum up
to and including the final year of secondary school. The paper may include questions based on the topic listed below:
• Euclidean and analytic geometry
• Trigonometry, including functions, graphs, identities, sine and cosine laws
• Exponential and logarithmic functions
• Functional notation
• Systems of equations
• Polynomials, including relationships involving the roots of quadratic and cubic equations, the remainder theorem
• Sequences and series
• Simple counting problems
• Properties of numbers