Online Math Is Cool Contest – Grade 4 – Mar. 24, 2021

Due to the ongoing pandemic, Academics Are Cool is offering the Math Is Cool contest as an online event.  We are running this in a format as close to our normal in-person contests as possible, with the standard events except that Relay is replaced with a new event called the Triple Jump.

Adaptations for the online format include the following:

• The contest events will be administered via a webinar.  The Contest Administrator will present instructions, mental math oral questions, and college bowl rounds via the live webinar video stream.
• Students will submit their answers via Google form answer sheets.  Participants may wish to write down their answers on a piece of paper or take a screen shot of their answer sheet for comparison to solutions that are provided at the end of the contest.
• Each student has been assigned a 5-digit Participant ID, which must be entered on all answer sheet forms.  Answer sheets without proper ID numbers will not be counted.  Obtain your participant ID from your coach.
  • Except for students participating as an individual or alternate, all students are assigned to a grade level team of four students.  Individuals and alternates are welcome to participate in the team events, but the results will not be attributed to a school team.
• Except for the Multiple Choice test, all answers are integers.  Entry of units or symbols (including dollar signs, spaces, commas, fractions, colons, AM/PM, etc.) is not allowed.  Negative integers are accepted, though the form will show a warning when just the negative sign is entered until a digit is added to the answer.  On the Multiple Choice test, students will select a letter corresponding to the intended answer or leave the answer as "Choose" to reflect that no answer (a blank) is being submitted.
• Except for Mental Math and College Bowl, test questions will be included on the answer sheets and the answer sheets will be made available on this website when the test begins.  Answer sheets must be submitted by the end of the test when time is called.  For certain events only (Individual, Multiple Choice, Team Test) you will be allowed to submit answers during the contest to periodically save your work; the confirmation message will show a link to return to your form to edit/add answers.  Submissions after time is up will receive a zero score.

Sample Test

As a warm-up and example to practice the process for written tests, a Sample Test is provided here.

1. When instructed to begin, you will open the Sample Test answer sheet.  For practice, you may open this answer sheet now.  Fill in your Participant ID and first/last name, then proceed to answer the questions.
2. When the answer sheet is completed, press 'Submit' to record your answers.

Contest Overview and Schedule

We will conduct the six contest events in the standard order, per the schedule outlined below.  Mental Math and Individual tests must be completed by the student themselves, with no outside help.  The Multiple Choice, Team Test, Triple Jump, and College Bowl are team events, for which you can use any convenient method (phone, text, Skype, Zoom, etc.) to communicate with the other students on your team of four.  Only the first submission by any team member will count as the team answer sheet for the contest, so be sure to coordinate with your team-of-four teammates.  Be sure you have everything ready before the 3:30 pm starting time, including internet access (for this website and the Zoom webinar), pencil, scratch paper, etc.—but calculators or other aides are not allowed.

Participants should have received the webinar meeting link, participant ID, and team-of-four assignment from your coach.  If a coach has forgotten the meeting link or participant IDs, contact us for help prior to 3:20 pm.  Include your name and school in the request.  If a participant is uncertain about their participant ID, math class, or team/grade level, they can confirm that information with their coach or by checking the participant list when it becomes available.  If there are any issues with participant information, coaches can e-mail the Webinar Manager after the contest, but by 8:00 pm, including the issue description, participant ID, student name, and school.

3:10 pm  All participant changes must be entered by coaches.

• This deadline will be strictly adhered to, so get your changes in early.

3:15 pm  Final articipant list is available for reference.

3:30 pm  Welcome Remarks

3:50 - 4:10 pm  Mental Math

• Remember, there is to be no work done on paper for the Mental Math event.  Work the problem out in your head and then type the answer on the answer sheet.  Each question will be read three times, then the Contest Administrator will wait for 30 seconds before going to the next question.
• When instructed to, reload this web page in your browser.  Links will appear so that you can open the appropriate Mental Math Answer Sheet below.  Once opened, fill in your Participant ID and name.
  • Answer Sheet for Last Names beginning with A - H
  • Answer Sheet for Last Names beginning with I - Q
  • Answer Sheet for Last Names beginning with R - Z
• After the test, when time is called, submit your answer sheet.  Do not submit the answer sheet until the time is up on the last question (you cannot go back and edit the Mental Math answer sheet).

4:10 - 4:45 pm  Individual Test

• For the Individual test and all subsequent events, you can use your paper and pencil to do work.
• You can submit your answers at any time to save your work, and then follow the 'Edit your response' link to resume adding/editing your answers.
• When instructed to, reload this web page in your browser.  Links will appear so that you can open the appropriate Individual Test below.  Once opened, fill in your Participant ID and name and begin testing.
• Test for Last Names beginning with A - H
• Test for Last Names beginning with I - Q
• Test for Last Names beginning with R - Z
• All of the questions are on the Test links above.  However, if needed due to network issues, the questions are also available in a separate Individual Test PDF file.
• When time is called at the end of the event, submit your answer sheet.

4:55 - 5:10 pm  Multiple Choice

• You can communicate with the rest of your team for the rest of the contest.  Choose a team captain to submit the answers for the team.
• You can submit your answers at any time to save your work, and then follow the 'Edit your response' link to resume with adding/editing your answers.
• When instructed to, reload this web page in your browser.  Links will appear below so that each participant can open the Multiple Choice Test.  The team captain needs to fill in their own Participant ID and name (answers will be assigned to the team).  Everyone can begin testing.
• Test for the Team Captain
• Test for Other Team Members
• All of the questions are on the Test links above.  However, if needed due to network issues, the questions are also available in a separate Multiple Choice Test PDF file.
• After the test, when time is called, the team captain needs to submit their answer sheet promptly.

5:20 - 5:35 pm  Team Test

• Again, you will be working as a team with a team captain.
• You can submit your answers at any time to save your work, and then follow the 'Edit your response' link to resume with adding/editing your answers.
• When instructed to, reload this web page in your browser.  Links will appear below so that each participant can open the Team Test.  The team captain needs to fill in their own Participant ID and name (answers will be assigned to the team).  Everyone can begin testing.
• Test for the Team Captain
• Test for Other Team Members
• All of the questions are on the Test links above.  However, if needed due to network issues, the questions are also available in a separate Team Test PDF file.
• After the test, when time is called, the team captain needs to submit their answer sheet promptly.

5:50 - 6:05 pm  Triple Jump

• Again, you will be working as a team with a team captain.
• One submission is expected every 5 minutes, so do not submit your form until told to (you cannot go back and edit).
• After you submit the first form, the confirmation message will include a link to the next form for submitting answers.  Follow that link to a form with the same set of questions, but titled Submission #2 (or Submission #3).  You should not be submitting the form below (titled Submission #1) more than one time.
• When instructed to, reload this web page in your browser.  Links will appear below so that each participant can open the Triple Jump Test.  The team captain needs to fill in their own Participant ID and name (answers will be assigned to the team).  Everyone can begin testing.
• Test for the Team Captain
• Test for Other Team Members
• All of the questions are on the Test links above.  However, if needed due to network issues, the questions are also available in a separate Triple Jump Test PDF file.
• The team captain must submit an answer sheet every 5 minutes, with answers and/or blanks.  Keep track of your answers to use on subsequent submittals, though you can change your answer on subsequent submittals.  It is critcally important to follow the link in the submittal confirmation to the next form for the subsequent submittal (prior submittals cannot be edited).  That is, there are separate test/answer sheet forms for each submittal and you don't want to submit the first answer sheet multiple times.  The team captain must submit answer forms promptly when the Contest Administrator instructs you to do so, thus avoiding loss of points due to a late submission.

6:10 - 6:50 pm  College Bowl

• College Bowl questions will be displayed in the webinar, one at a time over three rounds of 10 questions each.
• Everyone on the team can answer each question.  Only the first answer for the team will be counted for each question.  Submitted answers cannot be edited.
• When instructed to, reload this web page in your browser.  Links will appear so that you can open the appropriate College Bowl Answer Sheet below.  Once opened, fill in your Participant ID, name, round number, and question number.
• Answer Sheet for Last Names beginning with A - H
• Answer Sheet for Last Names beginning with I - Q
• Answer Sheet for Last Names beginning with R - Z
• You will use the same form for every question that you wish to answer (follow the link in the submittal confirmation to submit another response).
• Fill in your Participant ID and name and select the current round and question number from the drop-down menu.
• When you know the answer, enter it and press the Submit button.  You will have a maximum of 45 seconds to submit an answer.
• Up to the first 60% of the participating teams that correctly answer each question within the time limit will get the point.

6:55 - 8:15 pm  Dispute Submittal Opportunity

• At the conclusion of the contest, the 4th Grade Solutions (revised) will be provided here.  If a participant would like to dispute the answer to a question, they need to send an e-mail to the Webinar Manager during the Dispute Submittal Opportunity time period.  You must include the following information in the e-mail:  your name, your participant ID number, grade level, school name, test and question number in dispute, and a detailed explanation justifying your contention of a different answer.

You may provide feedback on your online contest experience to the Webinar Manager.