Every year, Hofstra University hosts the Long Island Math Fair to showcase different math projects and achievements from across Long Island. This event gives students from grades 7 to 11 the opportunity to share their math abilities and present a mathematical topic they enjoy to a panel of judges. This year’s Math Fair was held on Friday, April 28th, and 14 Northport students attended. Out of these 14 students, 3 won gold medals, 4 won silver medals, and 3 won bronze medals.

In the BC Math program at both middle schools and Northport High School, students are required to create a math project each year to prepare them for the IB Math IA’s. Topics range from mathematical concepts such as the Diophantine Equations and Fractals to real-life applications like the trajectory of a soccer ball and the basics of rocket science. Students create a poster board to showcase their findings, which they then submit to their math teacher for grading. After they’ve submitted their poster board, students have the opportunity to write a math paper to participate in the Math Fair. Leaving school early one day in the spring, they travel to Hofstra University in hopes of winning a medal (and coveted extra credit points!).

After creating their paper, it’s submitted to their judge, so they can read it and prepare for their presentation. At the Math Fair, students present their projects on poster boards or Google Slides to their judges in a room, consisting of about 5-10 students and two judges. After everyone is finished, the judges g

ive out gold, silver, and bronze medals to the students in their room who they thought were the best. They give these awards based on the complexity of the math, the student’s understanding of the subject, how they’ve applied the concept to real life, and presentational skills.

Overall, the Long Island Math Fair is a fun and exciting experience in which math-loving students from all across Long Island can come together with some friendly competition and share their mathematical concepts and findings with each other.