UNL Math Day will celebrate its 20th anniversary on Thursday, November 12, 2009. As part of our celebration, opening ceremonies will be held in the Lied Center for Performing Arts located at 12th & R Streets. The Lied Center is Nebraska's home for the arts and will truly be the beginning of an exciting, competitive day with plenty of room for all 1,400 (or so) of us. The PROBE I exam will be given in our beautiful Student Union. Our facilities are able to accommodate up to 100 Math Bowl Teams.
Opening ceremonies begin at 8:00 a.m. and the final awards ceremony is usually finished around 4:30 p.m. Last year we hosted 1,343 students from 99 Nebraska high schools. Our record-breaking year occurred during our 10th Anniversary celebration in November 1999, when we hosted 1,434 students from 103 Nebraska high schools. All students participate in a multiple choice, preliminary exam called PROBE I (Problems Requiring Orginal and Brilliant Effort). The top 3 males and females on this exam will receive plaques. The top 50 students then move on to take the now famous essay exam called PROBE II. The top 10 Nebraska high school students on PROBE II are awarded a total of $34,000 in 4-year scholarships to UNL. All the questions assume only two years high school algebra and one year geometry. However, the answers to PROBE II questions require the creativity and originality that we expect from only the very best students.
The purpose of Math Day is to stimulate interest in mathematics among Nebraska high school students, to encourage them to pursue mathematics or mathematics based science as a career and to recognize mathematical ability by awarding scholarships, certificates and trophies. Math Day consists of one individual and two team mathematics competitions. Information about UNL majors and departments, mathematical careers and recreational mathematical activities is provided throughout the day.
The first team competition is based on the scores from PROBE I. It is determined by summing the top 3–5 scores from each school on PROBE I, depending on the school's class. The second team competition is the Math Bowl. It is a double elimination tournament pitting three-member teams against each other. The team competitions are divided into classes (smallest, small, medium, and large schools) with trophies given to the top two teams in each.
As the day progresses, the students will have opportunities to participate in mathematical games, puzzles, etc. The UNL Office of Admissions will also offer campus tours to groups of students and parents. We provide the students free lunch in the residence hall cafeterias. This will give them an opportunity to sample a bit of campus life. While the students are taking the PROBE I exam, there will be a presentation or group discussion of interest for the teachers.
Additional Math Day Information
- PROBE: Individual competition
- Math Bowl: Team Competition
- Past Results
- Photo Album
- Register Online
- MathDay 2009 20th anniversary poster
Contact Information
Email:
Phone: 402–472–3731 (Ask for Lori or Gordon)
