Math Modeling, taught by Mrs. Durost, takes a unique approach to teaching mathematics. In this class, students learn various math topics while integrating them with other mathematical concepts and disciplines. Throughout the course, we explore advanced math topics and apply them to real-world situations through a variety of projects completed over the year. As part of this course, we also participate in multiple competitions, such as the Modeling the Future Challenge (MTFC), the High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM), and the New England Math League (NEML).
The Modeling the Future Challenge is a competition that every student participates in during their junior year at MAMS. For this competition, students form teams and choose a topic they would like to solve mathematically. Afterward, students complete a preliminary scenario phase, followed by a short project proposal outlining their intended topic, which is displayed to the side. As we move beyond this phase, we are tasked with completing the project detailed in our proposal report with the guidance of Mrs. Durost, as well as a project mentor provided through MTFC who is experienced in the field of actuarial or data science.
Another major competition we participate in is HiMCM, which takes place around November. In this competition, students form groups and are tasked with creating a mathematical model and written report to solve a real-world problem provided by HiMCM, all within a 50-hour time limit. Before beginning the official competition, students prepare by completing a practice version using a problem from a previous year’s contest. For us, this meant working on the roller coaster problem from the 2024 HiMCM challenge. Shown here is the model we created.