Participate in the Reel Math Challenge by MATHCOUNTS

Welcome to the Reel Math Challenge 2013! Last years inaugural competition was a huge success with middle school students from around the country submitting hundreds of math videos demonstrating their unique solutions to problems from the common core standards curriculum for math. This years contest is promising to be even bigger and more prestigious as this has become the premiere math video competition in the country. If you like to sign up for math games, you're in the right place and we are glad you're here. Now is your chance to sign up for the Reel Math Challenge 2013! To learn how to sign up for the math competition, read the following steps.

Step 1: Assemble your team

Like all good competitions, the Reel Math Challenge emphasizes teamwork. So the first thing you need to do is assemble your team! Every team must have exactly four Team Members (students in grades 6-8) and one Team Advisor (adult over age 18).

Step 2: Team Advisor registers all members of the team

The first part of the registration process is to have your Team Advisor register on the website. If you are the Advisor (over 18) for a team that will be entering the competition, sign up for the reel math challenge here. If you are a student, you will first have to get your Team Advisor to begin the registration process. You can start by copying and pasting this link into an email and sending it to your Team Advisor: http://www.reelmath.org/advisor/register

Note: In order to complete the registration, the Team Advisor will have to enter the email address for each of the 4 team members, so make sure to give your advisor everyone's email address.

After the Team Advisor creates the team on the website and enters the email addresses of the four Team Members. All Team Members will receive an email with a unique link to register as part of the team.

Step 3: Ensure all registration information and permission requests are completed by students and parents/guardians

Before any student can become a Team Member, a parent or guardian must provide permission to participate in the Reel Math Challenge. This is done electronically. When each Team Member registers, he or she will enter the name and email address of a parent/guardian.

An email is then sent to the parent/guardian requesting that they visit the website and grant permission for their child to participate. Only when all four Team Members have secured permission from all of their parents/guardians will the team become activated and allowed to post videos to the website.

Step 4: Select a problem with your team

Teams may select any problem from the first 270 in the 2012-2013 MATHCOUNTS School Handbook. These problems are available from the School Handbook download page

Remember that each video may include only of the math problems from the 2012-2013 MATHCOUNTS School Handbook.

Step 5: Brainstorm creative ideas for solving the problem and concepts for your video

Here is where you can really let your creativity shine through! When looking through the math problems in the 2012-2013 MATHCOUNTS School Handbook, remember that you will have to make a math video that demonstrates are real world application of the problem, and a solution. The more creative your video, the more memorable it will be (and will hopefully result in more votes!). Be creative in how you solve the problem or in your idea for your video.

Remember, the best videos will include ways that demonstrate the real-world application of the math used in the problem.

Step 6: Storyboard your movie

Before jumping right from the problem to the video, take the time to storyboard your movie. This is a critical step in the video creation process. For some guidance on how to storyboard a movie, take a look at our Making A Video page.

Step 7: Shoot the movie

Lights! Camera! Action! Be entertaining and most of all have fun! Remember, that if you are not used to being in front of a camera it is good to get a bunch of takes to figure out how to let the real you shine through on film.  For ideas, check out the Reel Math Video Archive, including last year's winner, 'Mix 'n' Match'!

Step 8: Edit the video to make your movie

To make your video really stand out from the rest, edit the video after you shoot it, so you can enhance your video while showing off your creativity. Tips and tools for video editing can be found on our Making A Video page.

Step 9: Publish your video to the Reel Math Challenge website

Now that you are ready to show the world that awesome video you and your teammates have made, you need to get it onto the website.

To do so, one of the Team Members must upload the video. The Team Member must login and click the "Upload Video" button at the bottom of the screen.

Remember, this button will not appear until all four Team Members are given permission to participate by their parents/guardians. Once your video is uploaded, all Team Members can view the video to make sure it is ready to go. Once everyone is ready to submit the video, one of the Team Members needs to click the box to finalize the video and submit it to the Team Advisor.

The Team Advisor will get an email alert that the video is ready for approval. Once the Team Advisor watches and approves the video, it will be officially submitted into the contest!

Step 10: Promote your video

After doing all that work in creating an awesome math video, you want to make sure all of your friends, family, and classmates as possible see it and vote for it in the contest.

We strongly encourage you to forward your video to anyone you can; we even provide you with a direct link on your video page to make it easier for you to share. The more votes you get the better your chances will be to win, so share the link for your video page with everyone you know and ask them to vote for you and even share it with their friends! Good luck!