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Team Up Challenge

The Team Up Challenge is a set of materials that teachers can use with their students. Working in teams, participants flex their mathematical problem-solving skills through fun and engaging activities. This no-cost challenge is designed to encourage student participation and maximize flexibility for teachers.

Audience

Students in Grade 6, 7, or 8, grouped into teams of four.

Date

Registered teachers will be able to access all materials, including instructions and solutions, on May 31, 2024. Materials will also be posted publicly online in mid-August for anyone to use.

Format

In the Team Up Challenge, team members collaborate to complete four parts:

  1. Team Paper: 15 questions of increasing difficulty.
  2. Crossnumber Puzzle: Similar to a crossword puzzle, but the answers are all numbers instead of words. Some clues make it possible to find a number directly, and some rely on answers from other clues.
  3. Logic Puzzle: A description of a situation and a list of clues that students put together to solve a puzzle.
  4. Relay: Just like a relay in track, where a baton is passed from player to player in order to finish the race, but in the case of a math relay, the “baton” passed is a number.

Teachers can run each of the four parts of the Team Up Challenge in person and/or virtually. The 2024 Team Up Challenge question papers will be available in both French and English. Please note that the solutions are currently only available in English.

Mathematical Content

We’ve designed the Team Up Challenge so that the content will be no higher than what should be covered by the end of Grade 6 (in Canada) while still challenging students in Grades 7 and 8. This inclusive design makes the challenge an excellent opportunity for teachers to get their entire class involved.

Results

The focus of the Team Up Challenge is participation and collaboration. For this reason, teachers are given solutions so that they can check each team’s work. The CEMC does not collect results.

Registration

Registration is free. Registration for the 2024 Team Up Challenge will open in April 2024.

Past Materials

Working on past challenges is a great way for teachers to familiarize themselves with the challenge and for students to practice their problem-solving skills.

Material Type Materials by Year
Instructions 2023  2022  2021
Team Paper 2023  2022  2021
Crossnumber Puzzle 2023  2022  2021
Logic Puzzle 2023  2022  2021
Relay 2023  2022  2021
Answer Key 2023  2022  2021
Solutions 2023  2022  2021