General Questions
- What are the official rules and terms of participation in the Reel Math Challenge?
- What are the rules for the weekly Amazon gift card drawing?
- What is the Reel Math Challenge?
- Who can participate?
- When does the Reel Math Challenge start?
- What are the important dates?
- How do I register?
- What is the cost?
- Do I need permission from my school to register a team?
- Does each team need four students? Can I sign up with fewer than four members?
- Can I be on more than one team?
- What is the responsibility of the team advisor?
- How long should each video be?
- Who can be in the video?
- Do all four team members have to appear in the video?
- Can my team enter multiple videos?
- What happens to my video after the competition is over?
- What are the prizes?
Judging Criteria
- How will the top 20 semifinalists be identified?
- Who can vote on the videos?
- Can voters give a "like" to only one video?
- Who are the judges panel that will decide the finalists?
- On what criteria are the videos judged?
Technical Questions
- My Team Advisor registered my team, but I did not receive an email with a link to register as a Team Member. What do I do?
- My parent did not receive the permission request email. What do I do?
- What if I am having technical difficulties?
- What format should my video be in?
- How do I find my video after it has been uploaded?
- Why isn't my "like" vote being recorded when I click on it?
- Are there measures in place to protect the safety of the information I enter into the Reel Math website?
- Why can't I view the videos?
- Why does an Infinite HD app pop up on my screen when I try and play a video?
General Questions
What are the official rules and terms of participation in the Reel Math Challenge?
The official rules and terms of participation can be downloaded at this link. Every participant in the Reel Math Challenge must agree and consent to these rules and terms in order to participate.
What are the rules for the weekly Amazon gift card drawing?
Every Friday starting on December 9, 2011 and going through January 27, 2012, MATHCOUNTS will conduct a drawing to give away four $25 gift cards to Amazon.com. Each video submitted into the contest will count as one entry into the drawing, and a video will be selected at random to win the gift card prize. Each member of the team that submitted the winning video will receive one $25 Amazon.com gift card. Teams may submit more than one video in order to increase their number of entries into the drawing. In order for the video to qualify for the drawing, it must be submitted into the system and approved by the Team Advisor prior to 7:00 pm, ET, on the Thursday before the drawing. Please note that all video entries must be valid submissions per the official rules and terms of participation of the Reel Math Challenge, which can be found here. MATHCOUNTS reserves the right to remove videos at its sole discretion that do not conform to the standards of the Reel Math Challenge. MATHCOUNTS reserves the right to suspend or discontinue the drawings at its sole discretion at any time.
What is the Reel Math Challenge?
The Reel Math Challenge is a new online competition that encourages student innovation as they create and star in their own math videos. This free competition, brought to you by MATHCOUNTS and lead sponsor the Department of Defense, will excite students about math while allowing them to hone their creativity and communication skills. To participate, students form teams of four and must utilize technology to create videos based on one of the math problems included in the MATHCOUNTS School Handbook. The videos are posted to the Reel Math Challenge website, and the top videos will win prizes including cool electronic gadgets, scholarships, and all-expenses paid trips to Orlando!
Who can participate?
The Reel Math Challenge is intended for U.S. students in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grades. Please see the official rules and terms of participation for details on official eligibility.
When does the Reel Math Challenge start?
You can create your videos now! Download the MATHCOUNTS School Handbook and choose a problem for your video! You can start submitting your videos on September 15 and continue submitting through February 1, 2012.
What are the important dates?
Submission dates: September 15, 2011 - February 1, 2012
Public voting dates: November 15, 2011 - February 1, 2012
Top 20 videos announced: February 2012
Top four videos announced: March 15, 2012
2012 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition: May 10-13, 2012 in Orlando, Florida
How do I register?
To register, teams must first have their Team Advisor register by clicking the "Login/Register" link at the top of it www.reelmath.org and submit the team member information. Students will then receive emails with links that will allow them to register with the team. After a student registers, the parent/guardian of the student will receive an email request to grant permission to participate in the contest. Once the parent/guardian permission is received for all four students, the team will be activated and able to upload videos onto the site.
What is the cost?
FREE! There is no cost to particpate in the Reel Math Challenge.
Do I need permission from my school to register a team?
While students do not need explicit permission from their schools to participate, they will need permission from their parent/guardian and team advisor.
Does each team need four students? Can I sign up with fewer than four members?
Each team must have four students. All four students do not need to be from the same school. Videos submitted from teams with fewer than four students will not be considered for prizes.
Can I be on more than one team?
Yes, students may be on more than one team.
What is the responsibility of the team advisor?
The team advisor is responsible for registering the team and is responsible for the approval of the team's video submission. In addition, if the advisor's team is selected as one of four finalists, the team advisor will serve as the team's chaperone at the MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Orlando, Florida.
How long should each video be?
Each video can be a maximum of five minutes. Videos longer than five minutes will not be considered for prizes.
Who can be in the video?
Anyone may be in the video, but only the four official team members will receive prizes and recognition for the video. If a team chooses to include extras in their video, the team is responsible for obtaining all necessary paperwork and permissions for participation.
Do all four team members have to appear in the video?
No. Team Members may choose to divvy up the work in the video creation process however they choose. If some Team Members prefer to contribute to the video by doing work off camera, that is totally fine!
Can my team enter multiple videos?
Yes! Your team can create as many videos as you want.
Do all four team members have to be from the same school?
No. As long as all four students are eligible to compete, they are eligible to combine on a team.
Can homeschools participate?
Yes! We welcome members of the homeschool community to participate in the Reel Math Challenge.
What happens to my video after the competition is over?
All videos submitted to the competition will be archived for public use free of charge. Each video will be cross-referenced with specific MATHCOUNTS problems. As each MATHCOUNTS problem is indexed to specific math concepts and the Common Core Standards, this library of videos will be a powerful teaching tool for both teachers and students.
What are the prizes?
Four finalist teams and their team advisors will win an all-expenses paid trip to the 2012 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Orlando, Florida. In addition, finalist team members will receive an HTC Flyer tablet. Each team member of the final winning team will receive a $1,000 college scholarship.
Judging Criteria
How will the top 20 semifinalists be identified?
The top 20 semifinalists will be the top 20 videos from unique teams that receive the most “like” votes. The process for identifying the top 20 semifinalists begins by identifying the top 20 videos that receive the most "like" votes. However, please note that each team may only have one video submission be eligible for advancement. Should a team have more than one video place in the top 20 in votes received, only the highest ranked video will be classified as a semifinalist and become eligible to advance to the top 4 finalist videos. In that case, the video with the next highest vote total will be added to the semifinalists until 20 videos from 20 different teams are identified.
Who can vote on the videos?
Anyone! We encourage teams to promote their videos to all of their friends, family, and classmates in order to increase their vote totals.
Can voters give a "like" to only one video?
No. Voters can "like" as many videos as they wish. However, voters may not repeatedly give "like" votes to the same video.
Who are the judges panel that will decide the finalists?
The judges panel will include representation from a cross section of individuals representing MATHCOUNTS staff, educational technology experts, mathematics education professionals, and the video entertainment industry. The panel even includes an Academy Award nominated producer, Mr. Steven Haft.
On what criteria are the videos judged?
Videos will be judged on a variety of criteria: creativity, originality, mathematical accuracy and adherence to time guidelines. In general, be as creative as possible. Have fun making your videos!
Technical Questions
My Team Advisor registered my team, but I did not receive an email with a link to register as a Team Member. What do I do?
Have your Team Advisor login and click on the "Student Details" link. To change the email address that the email was sent to, the Team Advisor must remove the student with the incorrect email and then add a new Team Member with the proper information. If the email address is correct, then the Team Advisor can click the "Resend registration request" button next to the Team Member who needs the email sent.
My parent did not receive the permission request email. What do I do?
Login and click on the "My Account" link. Click on the tab that says "Parent/Guardian Information" and click on the button that says "Resend permission request".
What if I am having technical difficulties?
Your best method of addressing technical difficulties is to send an email to reelmath@mathcounts.org. You may also call the MATHCOUNTS main office at 703-299-9006 during normal business hours.
What format should my video be in?
Videos can be uploaded in flv, f4v, wmv, mov, avi, vob, mpg, mp4, 3gp formats.
How do I find my video after it has been uploaded?
MATHCOUNTS has incorporated search criteria for teams and individuals to locate their videos after they have been uploaded. Search criteria can include problem number, Common Core State Standard and subject area. You can also search for your video through your team information, such as your school name or your home state.
Why isn’t my “like” vote being recorded when I click on it?
In order to view a video and vote for it in this contest, you must be using an Adobe Flash enabled web browser. (To download a free copy of Adobe Flash Player for your web browser please click here.)
In order to prevent improper repeat voting, measures are in place to prevent multiple votes coming from the same IP address over a certain period of time. This means that after you vote for a specific video one time on a computer (or, if you are accessing the internet from a network that uses a shared IP address, any computer on that network), you will not be able to vote for it again for at least 24 hours. Please note that you will be able to cast a vote for other videos from this computer (or network).
Please remember that the intent of the contest is to get as many people as possible to watch and vote for your videos. In order to get the highest vote total, the best way to do that is to share the video with as many people as possible, as opposed to repeatedly voting for the same video.
Are there measures in place to protect the safety of the information I enter into the Reel Math website?
MATHCOUNTS uses security procedures designed to protect the information obtained from all participants against unauthorized access and alteration during its storage and use by us. MATHCOUNTS has implemented a security measure called SSL encryption through an iFrame, that protects the information you submit to us during its transmission. SSL utilizes data encryption to create a secure environment for you to transmit information.
Why can't I view the videos?
In order to view a video and vote for it in this contest, you must be using an Adobe Flash enabled web browser. (To download a free copy of Adobe Flash Player for your web browser please click here.)
Why does an Infinite HD app pop up on my screen when I try and play a video?
When viewing videos on the Reel Math Challenge site, you are now given an option to install the Infinite HD app. This new software is designed to enhance your viewing experience through reduced rebuffer times and reduced start-to-play times. If you choose to install this software, we are providing an instructional powerpoint here, which will guide you through the plug-in installation process.
Please note that installing this application is not necessary to watch and vote for videos in the Reel Math Challenge. Viewers have the option to say “No thanks” to the Infinite HD plug-in and the video should play using the current Flash software in approximately 3-5 seconds, not accounting for local network traffic. Should you encounter any issues during this process, please contact us for assistance at reelmath@mathcounts.org.
