Four GHS students. 14 consecutive hours. One real-world open ended math problem to solve. This was the 11th annual Moody’s Mega Math Challenge.

On February 28th, seniors Lukas Struppe and Matilda Grow along with juniors Danielle Bauke and Samantha Orlando had to decide which of four car sharing models was the best to purchase in which of four urban areas. They also had to explore the impact of technological advances in the auto industry.

Through using monthly income of the cities given the team estimated the cost of the each car sharing option and calculated the percentage money spent each month to use that option.

The team researched, solved, and wrote up its findings in less than one day. When all was said and done, the team submitted a 20 page PDF file of its research to the Moody’s Mega Math website.

“It was definitely really interesting to see how the stuff we learn in math class ties into the real world,” said Orlando. “And even though it sounds like a lot of time to spend on something like that it really wasn’t and I’d definitely do it again.”

Over 1500 teams of high school students from all over America participated in this challenge in the hopes of being a top finisher to win a portion of $150,000 in scholarships. The team is currently waiting to find out if it finished as a top winner.