Press Releases

22 September 2009

BROCK UNIVERSITY MEDIA ADVISORY

Office of University Communications 905-688-5550 x4687

News Editors: Please consider the following item for a possible public service announcement and/or community calendar item:

Brock University math dept. organizes Ontario junior math competition

The Department of Mathematics at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., is organizing free Ontario-wide mathematics competitions for Grade 3/4 and 5/6 students from any school in the province, including home schools.

"These are the first province-wide online mathematics competitions for primary school students in Canada," says Professor Thomas Wolf, Mathematics, Brock University. "They are also the largest contests of their kind to be offered free of charge."

Wolf adds: "We are looking to get the word out as far and wide as possible to students, teachers and parents from all corners of Ontario. The goal of these competitions is to provide fun and challenging math experiences for Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 students in the province."

Brock has developed six online Caribou math competitions that will take place during the 2009-10 school year. The first contest will be for Grade 5 and 6 students on Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The contests are free, but registration through a school or public library is required. Students have one hour to complete the 24 multiple-choice question tests online and marking is done automatically.

Participants are eligible to win cash prizes, of which 30 per cent of the total funds are awarded to the student's school.

The Caribou website has all of the information related to the contests, including the online registration form, practice tests, prize details, and a list of all schools that have registered.

The other five contests will take place on the following dates:

• Grades 3/4 - Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009
• Grades 5/6 - Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010
• Grades 3/4 - Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010
• Grades 5/6 - Wednesday, April 14, 2010
• Grades 3/4 - Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Full details about the competition are available online at www.brocku.ca/caribou

For more information, please contact:
- Thomas Wolf, Mathematics, Brock University, 905-688-5550 x3803
- Margaret Thomson, Mathematics, Brock University, 905-688-5550 x3300