FAQ
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 found here. Every participant in the Reel Math Challenge must agree and consent to these rules and terms in order to participate.
What is the Reel Math Challenge?
The Reel Math Challenge is an 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 2012-2013 MATHCOUNTS School Handbook. The videos are posted to the Reel Math Challenge website, and the top videos will win prizes including, scholarships and all-expenses paid trips to Washington, DC!
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 2012-2013 MATHCOUNTS School Handbook and choose a problem for your video. The registration period will open in November 2012, and teams can submit videos through February 28, 2013.
What are the important dates?
Registration opens: November 2012
Submission period ends: February 28, 2013
Public voting dates: January 7, 2013 - February 28, 2013
Top 20 videos announced: March 14, 2013
Top four videos announced: March 28, 2013
2013 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition: May 9-12, 2013 in Washington, DC
How do I register?
Once registration opens, a team must have its team advisor register by clicking the "Login/Register" link at the top of www.reelmath.org and submit the team member information. Team members then will 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 his or her child permission to participate in the contest. Once 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 a student does not need explicit permission from his or her schools to participate, the student will need permission from his or her parent/guardian and team advisor.
Does each team need four students? Can I sign up with fewer than four team members?
Each team must have four student team members. 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. All four students do not need to appear in the video, but each of the four students must participate in the creation of the video.
Can I be on more than one team?
Yes a student 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 final approval of the team's video submission. In addition, if the advisor's team is selected as one of the four finalists, the team advisor will serve as the team's chaperone at the MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Washington, DC.
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 its 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 divide 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 and submit as many videos as it wants.
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 students in 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. Each video will be cross-referenced with a specific MATHCOUNTS problems, indexed to a specific math concept, and a Common Core Standards. This library of videos will be a free and powerful teaching tool for both teachers and students.
What are the prizes?
Each member of the four finalist teams and the team advisors will win an all-expenses paid trip to the 2013 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition in Washington, DC. Each team member of the final winning team will receive a $1,000 college scholarship.
All student members of teams that reach the finals of the Reel Math Challenge will receive a Droid DNA by HTC. Please note that the phones will be provided without any cellular service contract. Access to the internet, apps, and internet-based services will only be accessible through WiFi connection. (For those who wish to activate the device in order to utilize the phone on a cellular network, it will be the responsibility of the individual to purchase the necessary cellular service, which may require an activation fee and service contract through a cellular provider.)
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 votes. The process for identifying the top 20 semifinalists begins by identifying the top 20 videos that receive the most 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 four 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 only vote for one video?
No. Voters can vote for as many videos as they wish. Though voters may vote for a video multiple times, each voter is limited to voting for each video once in a 24 hour period.
Who is on 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. Past panels have even included 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!
What are some of the things judges may consider?
- Is an appropriate approach to the solution of the problem used?
- Are the facts/logic correct?
- Is the use of vocabulary and notation correct?
- Does the video explain the mathematical concept in a way that is clear to the viewer?
- Is the language of mathematics used to express mathematical ideas precisely?
- Is the mathematical thinking communicated coherently?
- Does this video use time effectively?
- Are important ideas emphasized?
- Are ideas explained in a logical manner?
- Is sufficient detail used?
- Is the video unique/memorable?
- Does the video show the use of imagination by the creators?
- Does the video present a clear application of the math concept addressed in the problem?
- Is the real world application relevant to the audience?
Technical Questions
Can videos contain any content the team members did not create ourselves?
Reel Math Challenge submissions must be free of copyrighted material. Although Reel Math Challenge videos are educational in nature, the Fair Use Copyright Doctrine would not apply to these videos because they are being submitted as entries in a contest for which there are prizes with a monetary value. Reel Math Challenge videos may include content which has been released into the public domain. On request, teams that choose to include content from the public domain must be able to provide documentation regarding where this content was obtained so its eligibility as content in the public domain can be verified.
What if I am having technical difficulties?
Your best method of addressing technical difficulties is to send an email to reelmath@mathcounts.org. You also may call the MATHCOUNTS main office at 703-299-9006 during normal business hours.
On what format should a team create its video?
Allowed file types: mp4, ogg, avi, mov, wmv, flv, ogv, webm.
Is there a file size limit for videos?
Video files must be under 500 MB in size.
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 or subject area. You also can search for your video through your team information, such as your school name or your home state.
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 that protects submitted information during its transmission. SSL utilizes data encryption to create a secure environment in which to transmit information.
How do I vote for a video?
Please click here to download our voting guide.
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