A selection of our best Year 7/8 mathematicians competed in Cantamaths

Before reporting on how our students went, answer this question:

"Turn 2017 into the biggest odd number".

Then play the video above. The Year 7 teams were asked this as part of their first question. Check out how quickly teams calculate the answer and send their runners to the marking table.

Cantamaths is a provincial problem-solving competition. Teams from as far as field as Kaikoura and Ashburton compete. Each team is racing each other to answer twenty questions in 30 minutes. No calculators allowed!

Here is another question from the Year 8 competition:

"I run for 30 minutes at 8km/h, bike for 45 minutes at 15 km/h and swim for 20 minutes at 6 km/h. What is my total distance covered in metres?" See the bottom of this article for the answer.

Our Year 7 and 8 teams placed in the middle of the pack in their respective competitions. The Year 7s complete 9 questions in 30 minutes while the Year 8s complete 12.

The answer to the question above is... 7125m