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Olympiad Students Master More than Math and Science

Update: Ranney students participated in the NJAIS Math League Competition at Kent Place in April 2014, placing third in the overall contest. Fifth grader Hubert Wang (Holmdel) earned overall first place; fifth grader Aiden Oster (Red Bank) placed fourth; and fifth grader Evan Woska (Marlboro) placed ninth among all of the mathletes. Twenty-five Ranney students in all qualified for the state-level Math League Competition to be held in late April! Congrats!


Approximately 60 Lower School students are taking advantage of the Ranney Plus Math and Science Olympiad programs this school year. Meeting once a week for an hour after school, the fourth- and fifth-grade students, along with a group of sixth-grade Math Olympiad members, tackle problem solving, strategic thinking, scientific reasoning and concept application—all while having fun.

Math Olympiad

“They’re not just doing algebra or working with numbers, they’re problem solving and thinking,” says Mrs. Jane Guadagno, Ranney’s Math Olympiad advisor and Middle School math teacher, of her Olympiad students. “Math Olympiad teaches problem solving to stimulate enthusiasm and a love for mathematics while introducing important mathematical concepts and major strategies for problem solving.”

Mrs. Guadagno helped Ranney to establish a Lower School Math Olympiad program during the 2006-2007 school year, and this year, the school has two competitive teams encompassing 48 students. In addition to practicing problem solving during their weekly meetings, the students participate in five contests a year, which take place November through March. Each contest is conducted online and takes about 25 minutes. The students’ scores are compared with those from participating schools around the world. According to the official Math Olympiad website, nearly 150,000 students from 6,000 teams worldwide participated last year, representing all 50 states and about 30 countries. During the 2012-2013 school year, a Ranney fifth-grader earned a second place award and four Ranney fifth graders placed in the top 50% of all competitors worldwide. And on the most recent March 2014 contest, two fifth graders got a perfect score!

Here is a sample problem from the official Math Olympiad website:

The only way that 10 can be written as the sum of 4 different counting numbers is
1 + 2 + 3 + 4. In how many different ways can 15 be written as the sum of 4 different counting numbers?

The skills that the students learn in this after-school program also apply to their daily academic work. “They understand how to solve problems, not just math problems, but across disciplines,” explains Mrs. Guadagno. “They are not afraid when they see a big math problem—they learn how to think it through and they learn that it’s OK to look things up.”

Many Lower School Math Olympiad students go on to participate in Ranney’s Middle and Upper School Math Leagues, and look back fondly on the elementary school experience. Says sophomore Rachel Staats (Colts Neck), “To be completely honest, I did not want to join Math Olympiad back in fourth grade. I remember sitting under my table while my parents told me it would help me in years to come…. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to hate the club when I arrived. I ended up begging my parents to let me join again in fifth grade! The problems … were more advanced and challenged me to think outside of the box. I know for a fact they helped me apply my math skills and excel in future classes—not to mention cultivate my love for math. I was placed in Honors Pre-Calculus as a sophomore, and will most likely continue to AP next year. Lower School Math Olympiad helped me in countless ways and I would highly recommend the club to any student looking to set themselves apart in the future.”

In fact, Ranney’s Middle School math students participate in multiple competitive events throughout the year, including the Continental Math Contest, Sigma Math Contest, New Jersey Math League and the American Math competitions.

Science Olympiad

Ranney students are also boosting their outside-the-box STEM skills through the Lower School Science Olympiad. Similar to the Math Olympiad, students meet once a week where they practice hands-on as well as cognitive activities in preparation for the year’s end state tournament in Moorestown, New Jersey. This is Ranney’s fifth year participating.

According to the official organization’s website, the goal of Science Olympiad, which includes a component for elementary as well as middle and high school students, is to “create a passion for learning science” and to “take advantage of the natural curiosity” of children. Students work individually and cooperatively to see “how science works” as they problem solve and gain a broader understanding of science concepts.

Advised by Lower School Science Teachers Mrs. Judith Salisbury, Mrs. Jennifer Spiro and Mrs. Janine Mitreuter, the Ranney Lower School Science Olympiad team has 13 fourth- and fifth-grade members this year, 7 of which are girls. Members are paired up at the beginning of the year and are assigned events such as “Barge Building,” “Chopper Challenge,” Calculator Contest” or “Food for Thought,” to work on throughout the year. They are essentially working to become experts in their chosen area, explains Mrs. Spiro.

At the state competition—coming up in May 2014—each team will participate in a Thinking Event and a Building Event. For example, one of this year’s teams is preparing for the “Weather or Not” activity; they must learn the layers of the atmosphere, be able to draw a water cycle, identify a picture of an earthquake versus a tornado, identify and explain weather instruments and more. Another team is working on the “Tennis Ball Catapult,” in which they must design and build a catapult that will launch a tennis ball 3 meters toward a bull’s eye. Students have to learn how to calibrate their catapult in order to get closest to the target.

A favorite event among students is “Mystery Architecture,” which requires teams to build the tallest freestanding tower they can in 20 minutes using only basic materials, such as paperclips and manila folders—the tower has to be able to balance a tennis ball and the materials are unknown until the day of the event.

“The activities are not only hands on, but they also involve a lot of research, review and modification,” says Mrs. Spiro. “For example, it’s not just about building a catapult one time and having it win a competition. The students learn to communicate and collaborate with their partners to make their projects the best they can be. They learn to be responsible and accountable.”

In addition, the skills these young scientists are learning apply directly to their academic classes. Process skills include making observations, measuring, inferring, communicating, analyzing results and creating models. “The skills associated with Science Olympiad support our Lower School Science Program from Pre-K through fifth grade as the children participate in hands-on learning; the skills they are learning come alive during discussions and investigations,” says Mrs. Spiro.

Adds Mrs. Salisbury, “One of our goals in Lower School science is to provide learning opportunities that allow the students to be involved with the Engineering Design Process. Every grade level therefore incorporates engineering projects.” For example, third-graders design and build simple electric switches. Fourth-grade teams work together to design K’NEX vehicles to meet specific design challenges that illustrate Newton’s Laws of Motion. One fifth-grade engineering project required students to modify a paper cup to release a marble onto a target as it traveled down a zip line. Each fifth-grade student is also required to find a creative solution to an everyday problem they have identified. “Using the Engineering Design Process, they then design and build an invention as a solution to their problem,” says Mrs. Salisbury. “What the students accomplish in Science Olympiad mirrors what goes on in the classroom.”

During the 2012-2013 school year, 11 fifth-graders competed against 10 other schools across New Jersey in the state Science Olympiad elementary competition, ultimately earning medals in nine events. On May 10, 2014, they play to attend the state tournament once again, where they will compete against students from 13 other private and public elementary schools.

The knowledge and skills that the Lower School Science Olympiad students are learning clearly carry with them to the Middle and Upper Schools. For example, during the 2012-2013 school year, Ranney’s Middle School students placed ninth in the nation and first place in the state of New Jersey after taking the 2013 National Science League Exam and the Middle School Science Olympiad team advanced to the state competition. The Middle School team is heading to the state tournament once again this year, taking place March 11, 2014 at Middlesex County College.
 
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
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