Washington Mathematics Official Publication of the Washington State Mathematics Council
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High School Contest
Update
Jim Miller, State Contest Chairperson
Invitations to all high schools in the state were mailed out by the end of November. If anyone needs an invitation/registration form and cannot access the website wsmc.net, contact the State chairperson or their regional director ASAP. The mailing also includes problems from last year's state contest, a copy of the rules including the changes, pre-registration instructions, registration forms, and this years project question:
"Affordability"
Devise an index that will measure "affordability of living". Explain the components and the structure of your index and justify your thinking. Be sure to consider such factors as (though not limited to) the median income, costs of health care, housing, food, and energy. Use this index to profile four cities (see list below)* in our state and to draw some conclusions about how affordability has changed over the last ten years. Also, use your index and the data you collect to project out 5 years into the future for each of these cities.
*For the four cities, choose one from each of the following lists:
Large cities: Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Tri-Cities.
Medium cities: Bellingham, Bremerton, Walla Walla, Wenatchee
Towns: Moses Lake, Colville, Port Angeles, Mt. Vernon
Small towns: North Port, Naselle, Pomeroy, Joyce
All of this information is also available at the website and also at the website is the rubric for scoring the problem. Get your students involved in the project question right away. I will be a nice challenge and a great learning experience for your math students.
© 1999 WSMC and Richard T. Edgerton