This is a blog about the worthwhile competition that I recently entered. MidMCM stands for middle mathematical contest in modeling. It is held by an American institution called COMAP. This year, I entered the contest with my partner.
INTRODUCTION
The contest is a modeling question based on actual situations.The challenge was to provide a plan for the building of a dog park. All possible concerns should be considered in order to provide a precise and comprehensive plan.
PROCESS
The aim of the contest is to produce a plan for the dog park. We started off with analyzing the questions. Starting from different aspects helps to list down the needs and wants. The next procedure is to get detailed planning and the amount of materials, services provided. Outlook is basically the arrangement of the areas included in the park. The last step was to write the essay. As long as details are included and calculated, essay should be easier. Structures of essay are the most essential part, as it keeps the logic.
ADVANTAGES
The division of work is clear, the situation of people treading water didn’t appear.
The data and essay are all carefully adjusted so to prevent fundamental mistakes.
The question is fully analyzed, all the procedures and work done about the plan are presented in the essay. No big mistakes are made.
PLACES TO BE IMPROVED
Research of the background wasn’t done. The problem caused is that there are no references. In normal essays, research about the background of the problem being solved should be done to fully understand the problem.
The arrangement of time is inappropriate. Summary which is one of the most important part of the project haven’t started until the night before the deadline.
Too many preparation of the project and the modeling part is done on papers. More data should actually be in electronic version.
CONCLUSION:
Doing the project is a worthwhile experience. Though problems occurred, it is still beneficial to try doing similar projects. Both scientific thinking and logic can be developed in the process.