Alabama ARML

The Alabama state (high school) math team has a storied tradition at the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML), having competed for over 20 years with numerous top 10 finishes. Well over 100 teams from around the U.S. and abroad now compete annually at this primarily high school event.

What makes ARML different is the level of difficulty of the competition. Students who study just enough math to get the right answer in a high school classroom (even in an advanced class) are not likely to solve many ARML problems. Additionally, there is a proof-writing round that challenges each fifteen-person team to work together to demonstrate rigorous mathematical results.

MIST Academy is a proud sponsor of the Alabama ARML team, committing time, personnel, and curricular materials so that students have the opportunity to reach the advanced levels of math required for success at ARML. Students are encouraged to work problems in the Gliya ARML forum. Students interested in the ARML team are encouraged to use the training materials below to sharpen their math and problem solving skills.

• ARML Contest Format
• Alabama Team Selection Criteria
• Alabama ARML Training Program
• Practice Problems
• How to Join the 2012 Alabama ARML Team
• Recent Alabama Team Results
• ARML Books (past contests and solutions guides)

The ARML competition consists of four rounds:

• The Team Round consists of 10 problems that the entire fifteen-member team work on for 20 minutes. Each problem is out of 5 points for a total of 50 points.
• The Power Round consists of several problems tied together by a common theme. Each fifteen-member team is given one hour to work together writing rigorous solutions (proofs) to each problem. In total, the Power Round is worth 50 points.
• The Individual Round consists of five sets of two problems, for a total of ten problems. Each team member works on each pair of problems individually. Each correct answer by each team is worth 1 point. A student's score out of 10 constitutes his/her individual score. In total, the maximum team score is 10 x 15 = 150 points to each team.
• For the Relay Round, each fifteen-member team is broken into five groups with three students each. Each three-person relay squad has six minutes to solve a chain of problems. The first member works on a problem, then hands an answer back to the second member. The second member uses the answer they received in order to solve their own problem. Likewise, the second member hands an answer to the third member who uses that answer to help solve his/her problem. Only the answer to the third problem counts. Squads that solve the relay correctly in 3 minutes get 4 points. Squads that solve the relay correctly in between 3 and 6 minutes get 2 points. There are 2 relay rounds, for a total of 5 (squads) x 5 (max points) x 2 (rounds) = 50 points.

The coaches of the Alabama ARML team feel that it is best to use as much information as possible to select team members, including scores on national exams such as the AMC 10, and AMC 12, and the AIME. This tests along with MATHCOUNTS and local competitions help us recognize which students work hardest on a wide variety of topics. The national competitions tend to be more similar to ARML, so these are weighted more heavily in our decisions.

There may or may be "tryouts" to provide us with additional scores, but our goal is to have at least one full team meeting at MIST Academy in Birmingham each year where prospective team members can work ARML style problems. Ultimately, Alabama ARML coach Mathew Crawford reserves the right to make all decisions as to which students join Team A, then Team B, etc., including alternates.

Join the Alabama ARML Team Mailing List -- Students, parents, and teachers interested in the Alabama ARML team can join this list to keep up to date with the state math team's practice schedule.

• The MIST Educational Foundation donated the registration fee for Alabama to compete in the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 ARML Power Contests while MIST Academy provided the registration fee for the 2010-2011 contest. In order to participate, just email Alabama ARML coach Mathew Crawford.
  

A host of resources for ARML students can be found at Gliya, including a page with many ARML resources.

• The 2005 Alabama ARML team selection test (solutions)
  
• The 2006 Alabama ARML team selection test (solutions)
• The 2007 Alabama ARML team selection test (solutions) and results
• Recursion
• Elementary Number Theory packet
• Many of the iTest problems also make for good ARML training materials.
• A few past ARML Power Questions
• Proof writing takes time to master. This document is a good guide, though it may take patience for younger students to read. This online guide to proof writing is also good, though the problems discussed may be too advanced for some readers. We will try to make more materials available for students interested in improving their proof-writing skills.