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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. 50 US, DC, and US territories. Entries must be submitted by the student’s teacher, 18+. Teachers submit entries online: scholastic.com/hardestmathcontest. Teachers submit entries by mail: Scholastic Inc., The Hardest Math Contest, ATTN: SNP, Space 3-226, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Challenge 1: Open to grs. 5-8 students. Students may enter by answering at least one question at or above their current grade level. For each problem submitted, only one answer may be submitted. Use a different entry form for each answer submitted. Entry period: 12:01 a.m. ET on 9/25/20 to 11:59 p.m. ET on 11/23/20. Mailed entries: postmarked by 11/23/20, and rec’d by 12/7/20. Three teachers who submit at least three eligible student entries (except as set forth in official rules) will each receive a $500 gift card. Challenge 2: Open to grs. 5-8 students who answered correctly in Challenge 1. Teachers of eligible students will be notified on or around 1/11/21. Students may enter by answering at least one question at or above their current grade level. For each problem submitted, only one answer may be submitted. Use a different entry form for each answer submitted. Entry period: 12:01 a.m. ET on 1/11/21 to 11:59 p.m. ET on 2/26/21. Mailed entries: postmarked by 2/26/21, and rec’d by 3/12/21. Three (3) Grand Prize winning students, one from each of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades problems, will each receive a laptop computer with Microsoft Office Home and Student Office products (ARV $550) and a $5,000 contribution to a 529 plan (a college savings account) (ARV $5,000). The three teachers who submitted the entries of the Grand-Prize Winners will each receive a $500 American Express gift card for classroom use (ARV $500). Three (3) Runner-Up winning students, one from each of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade problems, will each receive a tablet computer, which does not include a data plan (ARV $125). Official Rules: scholastic.com/hardestmathcontest/rules. Void where prohibited.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Student’s First Name

Student’s Last Name

Grade

Teacher’s Name

Teacher’s Email

School Phone

School Name

School Address

City

State Zip Code

THE HARDEST MATH PROBLEM STUDENT CONTEST

STUDENT ENTRY FORMCHALLENGE 1

Ready to show off your math and writing skills? Have your teacher send us your answer to the Challenge 1 story problem. If you answer correctly, you’ll be invited to enter

Challenge 2 for a chance to win great prizes, including a laptop. Whoa!

Use the Challenge 1 Question Sheet to answer the story problem for your grade.

Want an extra challenge? You can also answer the problem for any grade level above you!

(Heads up: You can only submit one entry per grade problem. Use a separate form for each problem.

A correct answer for your current grade level or above will make you eligible to enter Challenge 2!)

My Grade I’m currently in grade ❏ 5 ❏ 6 ❏ 7 ❏ 8

My Answer

My Reasoning Sharing your reasoning is optional now, but it’s good practice because it’s required in Challenge 2! For

more space, continue on a separate sheet of paper.

Entries due November 23,

2020

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6

Vishal loves to eat! He wants to know which foods are pollinated by bees. He found out that the honeybee, one of 20,000 different bee species, makes honey and provides most of the pollination for blueberries, broccoli, cherries, and many other foods. (Yum!) The honeybee

provides 100 percent of the pollination for almonds. But, honeybees are dying from habitat loss, the varroa mite, pesticides, and climate change. Below are approximate rates of honeybee loss in the U.S. for nine consecutive years.

What survival rate in the 10th year would make the average rate of loss over the 10-year period equal to 38.0%?

Definition: Survival rate is the opposite of rate of loss.

THE HARDEST MATH PROBLEM GRADE 6

There’s a new club at Monroe Middle School thanks to three persuasive students—Vishal, Maria, and Jade. When the principal read their proposal for EARTH Club, she smiled and said, “Environmentally Aware and Ready to Help! What a great title! Now what activities do you have planned?”

“First, we’ll study the declining population of bees,” said Vishal.

“Bees are vital to our ecosystem,” Maria explained. “Did you know that when they transfer pollen, they start the process of reproduction in about 80 percent of plants? That includes fruits, vegetables, flowers, and seeds.”

“It also includes around 90 different types of food, like apples and pumpkins,” added Jade.

“Wow,” said the principal. “The EARTH Club is officially approved!”

QUESTION SHEETCHALLENGE 1

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Rate of Loss 36.2% 29.0% 46.2% 37.5% 40.9% 40.0% 32.6% 40.5% 40.1%

Solve the Problem

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Maria found out that “bumblebee” isn’t just a nickname. The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) exists, but it’s now on the endangered species list. Twenty years ago, an estimated 727,731,000 of these bees lived across America and Canada. Today, they are usually found only in the states and the province shown below.

QUESTION SHEETCHALLENGE 1

IL

56

IN

36

IA

56

ME

31

MD

10

MA

8

MN

80

NC

49

OH

41

PA

45

TN

41

VA

40

WI

54

Ontario

354400

300

200

100

0

There’s a new club at Monroe Middle School thanks to three persuasive students—Vishal, Maria, and Jade. When the principal read their proposal for EARTH Club, she smiled and said, “Environmentally Aware and Ready to Help! What a great title! Now what activities do you have planned?”

“First, we’ll study the declining population of bees,” said Vishal.

“Bees are vital to our ecosystem,” Maria explained. “Did you know that when they transfer pollen, they start the process of reproduction in about 80 percent of plants? That includes fruits, vegetables, flowers, and seeds.”

“It also includes around 90 different types of food, like apples and pumpkins,” Jade added.

“Wow,” said the principal. “The EARTH Club is officially approved!”

Assume an even distribution of bees per mile across these territories. Suppose today’s scientists sample an area of five square miles within each territory, and find, on average, 3 nests with 205 living rusty patched bumble bees per nest.

What is the percent decline, to the nearest whole number, of rusty patched bumble bees from 20 years ago to today?

THE HARDEST MATH PROBLEM GRADE 7

Solve the Problem

Lan

d A

rea

(in 1

,00

0 s

qu

are

mile

s)

North American Locations

Size of Various North American Locations

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Jade read that honey is in high demand at stores right now because more and more people want natural sweeteners. She was interested in looking at the relationship between honey production and the cost of honey over the same set of years. She considered the graphs below:

For the 25-year period from 1992 to 2017, find the percent change in honey production and the percent change in honey price. Include the complete decimal in the trend line equations. For example, use 6.029 and 19.871 (all digits to the thousandths place) in the production equation. Round only at the end of all your calculations, and round each of the final two answers to the nearest whole number percent.

QUESTION SHEETCHALLENGE 1

50 10 15 20 25 30 35

250

200

150

100

50

U.S. Honey Production

Years Since 1987

Mill

ion

s o

f P

ou

nd

s o

f H

on

ey y = -2.739x + 222.15

50 10 15 20 25 30 35

250

200

150

100

50

U.S. Honey Price

Years Since 1987

Ce

nts

Pe

r P

ou

nd

of

Ho

ne

y y = 6.029x + 19.871

There’s a new club at Monroe Middle School thanks to three persuasive students—Vishal, Maria, and Jade. When the principal read their proposal for EARTH Club, she smiled and said, “Environmentally Aware and Ready to Help! What a great title! Now what activities do you have planned?”

“First, we’ll study the declining population of bees,” said Vishal.

“Bees are vital to our ecosystem,” Maria explained.

“Did you know that when they transfer pollen, they start the process of reproduction in about 80 percent of plants? That includes fruits, vegetables, flowers, and seeds.”

“It also includes around 90 different types of food, like apples and pumpkins,” Jade added.

“Wow,” said the principal. “The EARTH Club is officially approved!”

THE HARDEST MATH PROBLEM GRADE 8

Solve the Problem

Im currently in grade: OffMy Answer: more space continue on a separate sheet of paper: undefined: undefined_2: undefined_3: undefined_4: Students First Name: School Phone: Students Last Name: School Name: Grade: School Address: Teachers Name: City: Teachers Email: State: Zip Code: