Virtual Winter Math Contest Preparation Club registrations are now open!
Winter Contest Preparation Club （January 10—February 3, 2023, Online）
Math Enrichment Courses （February 7—March 3, 2023, Online）
Course Streams
•Contest Courses are designed to cover contest questions and problem-solving strategies. Instructions focus on the fundamentals of problem solving in fun ways, and improving skills in assessing how to solve a problem by recognizing its type.
•Programming Courses focus on exploring the relationship between math and programming. Building on math knowledge, solving math puzzles, and learning programming concepts, students program together to solve challenges and projects.
•Enrichment Courses are designed for students who are comfortable in math concepts at their grade level and are looking for greater challenges and new ways to stimulate their interest in math.
Program Fees and Financial Support
•Online Grades 1-8 Contest Club and Enrichment Courses: $225
•Online Grades 9-12 Contest Club and Enrichment Courses: $240+tax
If you are unable to pay for the full program because you have been financially affected, please apply for a scholarship. Further information and an application form can be found here.
Refund Policy
There is a $50 administrative fee for cancellation requests. Cancellations made 48hours before the first class will receive a full refund minus the administrative fee. Requests for refunds after the deadline will not be processed.
Registration
To register for any class, you must create an account on our registration system by clicking the button below.
When Virginia Norwood was in high school in the 1940s, her guidance teacher advised her to become a librarian instead of a physicist. Luckily, she ignored him. "I was always enthusiastic about mathematical problems and physics," said Norwood. Also, her father, an electrical engineer, was very important to her. By 1972, Norwood, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company, had designed a vital component of Landsat 1, the first satellite launched into space to monitor Earth's surface. Satellites in the Landsat series still provide valuable data to scientists worldwide and Landsat 9 was successfully launched on 27 September, 2021, almost 50 years after the first one.
Norwood's contribution was the multispectral scanner （多光谱扫描仪） 一 a sensor that could be calibrated while in space to accurately detect red, green, and infrared （红外线的） energy reflected from Earth and could transmit （传输） data digitally to researchers on the ground. The scanner enabled scientists to track forest loss, crop productivity, and the spread of deserts, and to map inaccessible features of Earth's physical structures such as glaciers and ice sheets. "She cleared the way for an entire generation of. . . Earth observation instruments," says NASA's Jeffrey Masek, a Landsat project scientist.
Norwood's device was included in the first several satellites launched through the Landsat program, a joint effort by NASA and the US Geological Survey. Other satellites have since surpassed the Landsat series in resolution and scanning abilities, but the continuity of the Landsat database over the decades makes it a gold standard in Earth imaging.
A robot created at Stanford University in California is diving down to shipwrecks （沉船） and sunken planes in a way that humans can't do. Known as OceanOneK, the robot allows its operators to feel like they're underwater explorers, too. OceanOneK resembles a human diver from the front, with arms and hands and eyes that have 3D vision, capturing the underwater world in full color. The back of the robot has computers and eight multidirectional thrusters that help it carefully explore the sites of fragile sunken ships. When an operator at the ocean's surface uses controls to direct OceanOneK, the robot's touch-based feedback system causes the person to feel the water's resistance as well as the forms of artifacts（人工制品）.
OceanOneK's realistic sight and touch capabilities are enough to make people feel like they're diving down to the depths-without the dangers or immense underwater pressure a human diver would experience.
The idea for OceanOneK came from a desire to study coral reefs in the Red Sea at depths beyond the normal range for divers. While OceanOneK was designed to reach maximum depths of 656 feet, researchers had a new goal: 1 kilometer, hence the new name for OceanOneK.
The researchers changed the robot's body by using special foam to increase buoyancy （浮 力） and fight the pressures of 1, 000 meters-more than 100 times what humans experience at sea level. OceanOneK also got two new types of hands and increased arm and head motion.
During OceanOneK's deep dive in February, team members discovered the robot couldn't rise when they stopped for a thruster cheek. Flotations on the communications and power line had collapsed, causing the line to pile on the top of the robot.
They were able to pull in the slack, and OceanOneK's descent was a success. It dropped off a memorial marker on the seabed that reads, "A robot's first touch of the deep seafloor A vast new world for humans to explore."
Khatib, a professor, called the experience an "incredible journey". "This is the first time that a robot has been capable of going to such a depth, interacting with the environment and permitting the human operator to feel that environment." he said.
The open letter on the official website of the Future of Life Institute, co-signed by experts such as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and computer scientist Stuart Russell and calling for suspending training artificial intelligence systems more powerful than GPT4, is still causing debate.
Besides calling for a suspension of six months, the open letter also stresses the importance of reaching a security agreement so as to ensure that the powerful AI systems are more accurate, secure and loyal to humankind.
Actually, as early as 2017, more than 2, 000 professionals and scholars co-signed the Asilomar AI Principles, 23 guidelines for the research and development of artificial intelligence that aimed to establish a set of values for AI to be aligned with so that it would benefit humanity. Since then, more than 100 AI principles and documents have been introduced.
Technology is becoming more deeply rooted in people's lives, which means that human values and ethics must be considered essential parts of research and development to ensure that as technology progresses it is for the benefit of humankind.
With cutting-edge technology increasingly posing potential risks to human survival, while seeking to equip human society with science and technology, we should be careful to the irreversible risks that would result from too much scientific and technological authorization. It is time that a suspension button is pressed for giant AI systems. That's the only way for humanity to prevent high-tech systems from becoming uncontrollable.
At the end of the open letter it reads: "Let's enjoy a long AI summer, not rush unprepared into a fall." That poetic sentence not only applies to the very situation right now, but also to the coming future.
Having a good sense of humor makes you more enjoyable to be around. . Here's how you can develop your sense of humor.
Surround Yourself with Humor
You learn more effectively when you fully expose yourself to a subject. Similarly, you can improve your sense of humor by surrounding yourself with humor. Watch standup comedians. Listen to programs that amuse you. Read humorous books.
Learn What Amuses You
. We amuse our friends by praising a change they made. However, when it comes to being funny, don't change your sense of humor to amuse other people. Instead, start with what amuses you. Then, if you think the other person will also be amused with it, share it with them.
Think About Timing and Audience
You don't have to be funny all the time, so don't expect that of yourself. When you catch yourself trying to be funny, slow down. Simply speak slower so you're not as likely to stop and repeat yourself. Try speaking at 60-70% of your usual rate.
You don't need to seize every single opportunity to be funny. If you're in the middle of a bad joke, just end it. "You know what, now that I'm telling it, it's not as funny as it sounded in my head, " can be a bit of an awkward end and hurt your pride a little bit, but it saves everyone time and patience. In the long run, they'll respect your taste.
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A. Be Creative, Not Silly B. Pause in between sentences C. There's a lot of fun out there D. You might also do better at work E. Know When to Pull the Plug on Yourself F. You can also try your hand in the real world G. A lot of times, we say things purely to please others |
Middle and high school students in Minneapolis are engaged in volunteering every Monday. They help make sure their neighbors have a positive experience when1donations. Micah, 13, is one of these teens2giving up a few evenings to3physical labor. "It's not that hard," she says. "It's4and it feels good to volunteer and help." Darrick Granison says the youth undertake a variety of5" With the young people, we help them to box up some of the food we get." he says. "These boxes are pretty6. The boxes are like 50 or 60 pounds. "
The food is7from several Minneapolis grocery stores, including fresh meat, vegetables, milk and more. "We just try to give people what we would8if we were in their9," he said.
This week was Micah's first time to volunteer. "I was really10," she says, "but it wasn't as hard as I thought. I'm just happy that I'm able to11. "
Middle schooler Noel is learning some valuable12"We build up our confidence, know our13, and realize how important we are to the world." he said.
At just 13 years old, he has some experience volunteering. He urges other kids to get14too. "It feels great. I mean, ever since I was younger, I've always loved15people," he said.
The future looks bright for a high school senior in Florida after being accepted into 27 colleges （offer） him a collective $4 million in scholarship money.
For Jonathan Walker, who attends high school in Panama City, the next challenge will be choosing which school （attend）. Among his impressive consideration （be）Harvard, Stanford, and MIT.
In addition to his studies, Walker plays for his high school's football team and is working to develop wrist device to help people are blind and deaf with communication. In school, he hopes to study engineering, an interest （inspire） by a chemistry set his parents gifted to him.
"I found a way to channel that （curious） into science and that soon blossomed into engineering. And then from there I really （learn） that I could use engineering to help people," Walker told ABC News. "And so I just became super interested in creating devices that could help disadvantaged communities and people going through difficult problems. "
for his key to success, Walker said he owes a lot to his supportive family. "They showed me what it's like to be （passion） about something," he said.
A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people hardly visited. The house was very old and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out he would not say hello to neighbors or passers-by but simply just glare at them.
The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy's parents told him to stay away from the house. A lot of the other neighborhood children were told the same from their parents.
As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened." What do you want?" the old man said. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota（份额） to meet for school with selling the magazines.
"Uh, sir, I uh am selling these magazines and uh I was wondering if you would like to buy one." The old man just stared at the boy. The boy could see inside the old man's house and saw that he had dog figurines（小狗雕像） on the wall. "Do you collect dogs?" the little boy asked. "Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here. They are all I have." The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul. "Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much." The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, "No boy, I don't need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye."
The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the big house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.
Paragraph 1: The boy headed back down to the old man's house with the figurine.
Paragraph 2: From that day on something changed inside the old man.
