About the Math Hackathon
Explorer Hop's Math Hackathon is a global math competition where contestants use math to solve one of our world's most pressing issues. The competition is open to students all around the world between the ages of 11 and 17 who are enrolled full-time in school. We welcome students of all different Math levels. Participants can join either as individuals (if they want to work on their project solo) or join as a group of 4 members (max), and work collaboratively with others.
This year's competition ran from June 4th to June 5th, 2022. Therefore, from the start of the competition, participants had 48 hours to submit their solution to the proposed problem for assessment by the Explorer Hop team. Following the assessment of all answers, participants were awarded prizes according to their rank, with the top finisher taking home a $100 gift card and the other contestants in the Top 10 receiving smaller prizes. All participants, however, received a certificate acknowledging their effort and completion of the hackathon.
If you feel that you're on the lesser experienced side and want to prepare first, there is still time to do so before the next competition (2023 dates: TBA). Please visit Explorer Hop's website and sign up for one of our many math programs now. These offerings have been individually curated and refined to cater to children and students from 6th grade (11 years old) to 12th grade (18 years old) so check them out now if you want to boost your math skills prior to our next hackathon (2023 dates: TBA)!
Young Math Whiz Arya Panda on His Experience
The Explorer Hop team interviewed Math Hackathon participants on their experiences to help prepare future students and offer them insight into what it's like to compete.
Read on for a written version of our interview with Arya (Coppell, Texas, USA).
EH: Tell us about yourself!
Arya: I go to school at a college prep school in Dallas, Texas. I love playing basketball, I like working out, and I also love math. Math is so fun and interesting to me. I'm like a math and science type of person... that's like my brand.
EH: Do you think population density is a problem?
Arya: Absolutely. In some places, you have these little apartments and they're so close to each other and it's not really healthy for everyone to live in an environment like that.
EH: What do you think we can do about population density?
Arya: Distribute it evenly. There is a very good part of the population that's up there and they just have 1000 homes and it's like... "why couldn't you just give one to someone else?". Use math to set limits on how much money a person should make and then start government funds that can actually help other people and the homeless get more houses and have it distributed evenly so that more people can live in a certain area.
EH: What message would you give to someone who struggles with math?
Arya: I would show them how math is applied in the real world. In some famous paintings, there is this ratio called the golden ratio which is 22 over 7 approximately and that ratio is used to make everything symmetrical. Using that math, people make really famous paintings that look very pleasing to the eye and symmetrical -- all because of math.