Math Modeling is taught by Mrs. Burns. A course more concentrated on the method rather than the answer, it allows you to focus more on your problem-solving skills. Throughout the course, we learn to find relationships between different variables, and then seek to optimize the solution for the real-world application. Modeling problems often incorporate all types of topics, requiring you to use a lot of prior knowledge in conjunction with what you are currently learning. Some of the very interesting activities include shuffling with cards and the HiMCM math competition.
I utilized a software called Mathematica to solve this modeling problem; it allows us to make graphs, tables, form equations, and perform complex tasks with available functions. In this case, Mathematica was used to solve the Pythagoras High School problem where we had to determine an optimal ticket price for maximum revenue based on survey results from the customers. .
All of MAMS participates in The High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM), a 48 hour long math modeling competition that you work through with your group. I worked with Alexander Kaneko, Tarun Eswar, and Chengwei Wang to complete this paper, where we aimed to generate a model of a bee colony’s lifespan, and other questions related to that. We presented multiple solutions, some that were basic models, while others used differential equations to simulate the bee hive.