2008-2009 Log1 Contest

Test Descriptions and Samples

This page includes test descriptions, links to sample questions and test administration procedures. There are many more sample tests at the national site. The tests for this years Log 1 contest were chosen to model the kinds of tests that will be given at the 2009 National Convention in Knoxville. There will be three rounds of testing; a) Topic Test 1/2, b) Topic Tests 3/4, and c) Individual overall knowledge and problem solving skills. There will be somewhat different versions of each of the tests for the different divisions: Theta, Alpha and Mu.

The FAMAT organization has put together a great online reference of past tests. Last years Log1 tests are online as: Individual, Ciphering, Geometry, Applications and Logs/Exponents.

The division definitions are:
MU level is for full members who are enrolled in Calculus class.
ALPHA level is for full members who are enrolled in math courses above Algebra II but have not been enrolled in a Calculus class.
THETA level is for associate or full members are enrolled in Geometry and/or Algebra II but have not been enrolled in a higher level mathematics course.

Round 1 - Topic Test 1/2
There will be two topic areas that the students may choose between:
Circles - Problems that involve circles. Problems involving areas, lengths of circles or portions thereof, secant lines, chords and tangents are all possibilities.
Matrices - This test will focus on the use and manipulation of matrices. Concepts such as the solution of linear equations, determinants, inverses, etc. are used. The Mu and Alpha tests could involve vectors including dot and cross products, eigen vectors, etc.

During each round, a link will be provided so that verified sponsors can download electronic copies of the tests and instructions. For the first round, there will be six tests (2 topics for 3 divisions). Sponsors should print the tests and make sufficient copies for their students and schedule a time duing the one-week testing period to administer the test. At the testing time, sponsors should distribute scratch paper and copies of the chosen tests to each student.

Each test will consist of 15 open-answer problems to be completed without calculators during a 30-minute testing period. The first five questions are worth 4 points each, questions 6 through 10 are worth 5 points each and the last five are worth 6 points for a total of 75 possible. Answers should be given in the space provided. There is no guessing penalty. At the conclusion of the test, sponsors should score each paper and enter the scores on the student information page. If there are any disputed questions or answers for which the sponsor concurs, please contact log1dispute@wamath.net. Scores may be entered or edited up to one week after the testing round ends.

Round 2 - Topic Test 3/4
There will be two topic areas that the students may choose between:
Number Theory - Problems with primes, number patterns, remainders, modular arithmetic.
Geometry - This test involves all aspects of geometry including polygons, similar objects, etc.

During each round, a link will be provided so that verified sponsors can download electronic copies of the tests and instructions. For the first round, there will be six tests (2 topics for 3 divisions). Sponsors should print the tests and make sufficient copies for their students and schedule a time duing the one-week testing period to administer the test. At the testing time, sponsors should distribute scratch paper and copies of the chosen tests to each student.

Round 3 - Individual Test
The individual test is adminstered in the same manner as the topic tests and may contain questions from any math topic. It is given last so that it may contain more material from the current class than the other rounds.

Again, disputed questions may be submitted to log1dispute@wamath.net as soon as they are noted. We will verify the dispute and notify other schools if a change is necessary.