By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
A group of Burlington Area School District students have discovered that playing games can help you learn.
With the help of a mathematics game called “Math 24,” 12 different BASD students qualified to compete at regional competition.
The fourth-grade elementary school students – an All-Star team of the top Math 24 players in BASD – competed at regionals in Lake Geneva Feb. 4.
Clarisa Palmer finished fourth overall, and was joined at regionals by Charlie Beaudette, Jeremiah Blakely, Danny Kniep, Devan Sadler and Morgan Crist.
Lyons Center School Principal Sue Mosher heads up the team at the fourth-grade level. The premise is simple: with four numbers on a game card, students must use all four numbers no more than one in a combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (just one, or more) to come up with an answer of 24.
For example, a card with the numbers 1, 3, 4 and 8 can get to 24 by subtracting 1 from 3 to get 2, then subtract 2 from 8 to get 6.
Multiply 6 times 4, and you get 24.
“Somehow, they can come to 24 just using those,” Mosher explained. Students can find any way to get to the answer so long as they prove it, and get the number of points on the card.
Mosher said every school has a team of children involved. She said Lyons practices, and then puts together a team.
Kids start preparing for the competition at the beginning of January.
“When we came back from break, we really started with the pulling the kids for practice,” Mosher said. “But at the start of the year, we show them the game so they can get used to it.”
The schools compete against each other at the district level, and the district puts together an All-Star team of six from the highest scorers in the district.
At regionals, the BASD students competed against their counterparts from East Troy, Jefferson and Lake Geneva.
While the six-member fourth-grade team prepared for regionals, two teams were getting ready at Dyer Intermediate as well.
The Dyer fifth-grade team competed at the same regional as the fourth graders, with Drew Stutzman taking first overall and Nick Pervisky fourth. Jacob Follis also competed.
The sixth-grade team of Ben Rummler, Kale Dietz and Tyler Hunter will compete at regionals Feb. 26.
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