In Math Modeling we practice problem solving and math modeling skills. In class we solve a variety of problems to develop problem-solving skills and have the opportunity to compete in math competitions such as NEML, MAML, AMC12/AIME, and WOCOMAL. To reinforce this and to prepare for calculus at WPI in 12th grade, we also learn content by solving problems from Exeter textbooks and Algebra Through Problem Solving. The second main part of math class is math modeling and using math to represent and optimize real-world situations. We solve math modeling problems using Mathematica and in groups throughout the year. As part of this all students compete in the 2-day math modeling competition HiMCM.
One project which we did using the computational and modeling software Mathematica (part of Wolfram Alpha) was to model a set of data by finding a line of best fit using the least-squares regression method.
HiMCM (High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling) is a 2 day math modeling competition in which teams are given a situation or scenario to mathematically model and solve. Teams choose between two given problems and then have to write a 25-page long report explaining their model. The two problems for the 2021 HiMCM were creating a model to determine the optimal battery system for solar panels based on user input and determing if Lake Mead (Nevada) is in danger of drying up given spreadsheets containing data on past water levels. My team (Vinayak Rao, Anush Shah, Jonah Sagarin, and I) choose problem A (finding the optimal battery system) as we felt that it gave us more freedom than problem B which essentially consisted of analyzing a data set and drawing a single conclusion from it.