2016 School Magazine

QUEENSLAND ASSOCIATION OF MATHEMATICS TEACHERS (QAMT)

YEAR 7 AND 8 QUIZ On Monday the 8th of August, two teams of girls went to St Joseph’s College to compete in the 2016 QAMT Year 7 and 8 Quiz. The competition consisted of five rounds covering estimation, speed, individual short answer, problem solving and general knowledge. Each team consisted of four girls, with three competing at a time. We all performed extremely well and finished commendably; however, we missed out on progressing to the final. The quiz provided us with a challenge and allowed us to explore diverse problems that we would not have encountered in the classroom. I enjoyed the supportive atmosphere of the quiz and the co-operation between both the Girls Grammar teams. I found this opportunity very enjoyable as we had the chance to meet people from other schools while competing. I would really recommend this competition to younger students who have an interest in Mathematics and like working as part of a team.

PROBLEM SOLVING COMPETITION

The QAMT Problem Solving Competition was held at the University of Queensland on Saturday 12th March. Traditionally the competition is held around the 14th March to recognise ‘ π -Day’, a universally accepted day of celebrating Mathematics. This year seven students from Years 8-12 participated in the competition. The students had two hours to complete five very challenging problems under strict exam conditions. The morning concluded with the QAMT providing lunch of an assortment of ‘pies’. The girls took advantage of the opportunity to discuss their solutions to the problems and gain insight into a variety of strategies used by others. As always, the girls behaved and conducted themselves admirably and valued the opportunity to meet and interact with other students with similar interests.

ELLA HENDERSON (8W)

MRS LEE MAZZAGLIA, MATHEMATICS TEACHER

DAVINCI DECATHLON On 24th May 2016, two Brisbane Girls Grammar School teams, one consisting of year nine students and the other of year ten students, participated in the Queensland da Vinci Decathlon held at A.B. Paterson College. The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition for school students in Year 5-11 held across Australia and the world. The competition seeks to challenge students in the areas of mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, philosophy, creative producers, cartography, and general knowledge. Each team consists of eight students, who are presented throughout the day with papers and tasks concerning each discipline. Teamwork is crucial in the completion of said papers within the set amount time. Some team members may devote the whole round to working on a single paper, while others may divide their time between papers in order to provide valuable new perspectives, solutions and/or insights regarding particularly puzzling questions. Both teams from Brisbane Girls Grammar School achieved highly in individual disciplines, with our Year 10 team achieving second in science, and our Year 9 team performing extremely well, placing third in art and poetry, second in code breaking, and second in philosophy. The da Vinci Decathlon celebrates Leonardo da Vinci’s life-long passion for learning and the pursuit of knowledge, placing emphasis on higher order thinking skills, problem solving, and creativity. The girls, embracing this philosophy, found the competition wonderfully stimulating and great fun.

ALISON BECKEY (10R)

122 / CO-CURRICULUM