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Math Modeling

Math Modeling, taught by Mrs. Burns, is definitely unlike any other math class I’ve taken before. This class focuses on out-of-the-box thinking, the fusion of different math concepts, and ways to use math to solve and model real-world problems. This class was probably the hardest one for me to transition to, as it was nothing like the typical memorize and test method of many other public school math classes. Now that I’ve understood this class a lot better, it’s really interesting to think about math concepts in different ways and how they can be applied to other topics. Overall, I’ve enjoyed growing and learning how to think in ways I wouldn’t before in this class.

Epsilon School Model

This was our first math modeling problem, and it was a really interesting experience, as it showed that there are no “right” answers in math modeling, only assumptions and justifications. In this problem, the Epsilon school got a certain number of teachers they could hire in preparation for the significantly larger incoming class, but the school wanted to find the fairest way to distribute the teachers amongst the departments. This problem challenged my way of thinking and really showed how important teamwork and communication are in a group setting for a modeling problem.

Modeling the Future Challenge

Modeling the Future Challenge is a competition that is focused on teaching students about the actuarial process. In this challenge, teams decide on a problem that they can make a model of and use the actuarial process to prevent risk. My team chose to focus on airline overbooking, as it has become more of a noticeable problem in airports throughout the years. As well as the details of our own project, this document, which advanced us to the second stage of the challenge, contains our responses to a scenario that MTFC provided to prepare us for using data and statistics in the actuarial process.