February 19, 2025
Sprint problems for teams of 1st and 2nd year of ESO

Within the framework of the general idea for carrying out the activity of the Sprint Problems which you have outlined at the beginning of this page and, in more detail in this link, we can mention the participation in the last call of the 2024-2025 school year, consolidating the idea of popular race for problem solving  with record numbers and a very high success rate.

Thank you for your participation and for the messages telling us that the children had a worthwhile time, that they enjoyed it! This is the primary objective of the Sprint Problems

First data

• Participated 236 teams, from 172 centers  (including 15 from the Valencian Community and 1 from the Balearic Islands), which have recorded a total of 5,273 students as team members. Record data!
• 135 teams had a perfect score on the contest problems. An excellent percentage!
  • The fastest team, which lived up to the name of the activity, was the team from the‘Institut Josep Brugulat, from Banyoles, in Pla de l'Estany, with a time of just under half an hour.,
  • Also very notable, with a contest time between half an hour and three-quarters of an hour: Institut Giola, from Llinars del Vallès; Institut Ernest Lluch from Barcelona; Institut Manuel de Pedrolo, from Tàrrega; Institut Pius Font i Quer, from Manresa; La Salle Palma, from Palma de Mallorca;  Manolo Hugué Institute from Caldes de Montbui; Sant Pau, from Barcelona;  La Salle Reus, from Reus; IES Vicent Castell i Domènech, from Castelló;  Torre Roja Institute, from Viladecans; Vila de Gracia Institute, from Barcelona ; Gabriel Ferrater i Soler Institute, from Reus ; Vall de Llémena Institute, from Sant Gregori; Montilivi Institute, from Girona; IES Josep Iborra, from Benissa and, at the very limit of three-quarters of an hour, Sa Palomera Institute, from Blanes and Polinyà Institute, from Polinyà. .
  • 29 teams between three-quarters of an hour and one hour. etc.
  • We are preparing a more detailed report, which we will publish as soon as possible, which will include the names of all the teams that got it right, who all deserve congratulations, having done a very interesting job until reaching the correct answer, even if it took a long time… as we said: they did it with the spirit that moves many people in popular races. We also believe we can congratulate ourselves on the geographical dispersion of the centers on the list!
• There has also been good work and great success in the bonus challenges: 46 centers got all three right and another 41 gave a correct answer to at least one of the three. Very good!!!

Statements and solutions

• You can see the statements, in a PDF  enunciats-esprint-19feb
• Correct answers:
  • First group of problems: 25 and 3(a+b+c); 23; 105; 24
  • Second group of problems: 64 and 15; 7.75; double the value A that passes; 36
  • Third group of problems: 5184; we will include images of the possible answer to the numerical puzzle later
  • Bonus problems: 11539, 34, 48.

It must be kept in mind that the organization and structure of the teams is specific to each center, but with the key idea of collaboration and the reflection among the team members. However, each center will appropriately evaluate its results.

It was a good sprint!!!

 February 5, 2025
Sprint problems for high school

Activity report

As is entirely fair and appropriate, we must begin with a congratulation to all participating teams who have spent some time, a good time in many cases, doing math, debating strategies to find the solution to the challenges posed. We joyfully greet the teams from the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands that have participated.

• Participation. 74 teams from 69 school centers participated, reporting a total of 1261 students.
  • These centers belong to 47 towns: one from the Balearic Islands, 40 from Catalonia (22 from the province of Barcelona, 10 from the province of Girona, 2 from the province of Lleida, and 6 from the province of Tarragona) and 6 from the Valencian Community (1 from the province of Alicante, 2 from the province of Castelló, 3 from the province of Valencia, with a very special greeting to IES 25 d'abril, from Alfafar, and the wish that the recovery from the DANA goes forward!)
• The most outstanding team was that of the’Ernest Lluch Institute,. of Barcelona. which sent the correct answers to all 10 challenges of the contest, without any mistakes (BBB), in a contest time of 3157 seconds. They also gave correct answers to the three bonus challenges (which for other teams we will indicate with (***).  Very, very good!
• The podium . Three other teams had a contest time between one hour and one hour and forty-five minutes. Very good too!. They are:
  • Aula Escola Europea, from Barcelona, with only one mistake. And also (***)
  • Jaume Vicens Vives Institute, from Girona, also with only one mistake, and (***)
  • La Salle Manresa, from Manresa, without any mistakes (BBB)
• In the next group of well-notable teams, with a time under one and a half hours,  we congratulate the teams from the’Manolo Hugué Institute, from Caldes de Montbui, with only one mistake (***); the’ Samuel Gili i Gaya Institute from Lleida (***); the Santa Teresa Ganduxer School, from Barcelona, the’Guissona Institute (***), and finally the’IES Josep Iborra, from Benissa (*). Good geographical distribution!
• In under two hours, they sent all correct answers to the 10 problems of the contest: Torre Roja Institute of Viladecans; Vilablareix Institute (with only one mistake); Nou de Vilafranca Institute, from Vilafranca del Penedès (***); Doctor Puigvert Institute of Barcelona; Joan Brossa Institute of Barcelona (***); Arquitecte Manuel Raspall Institute, from Cardedeu (*), and Josep Brugulat Institute, from Banyoles (this one without any mistakes (BBB))
• The list of teams with a perfect score is completed by the Gabriel Ferrater i Soler Institute, from Reus (***); Pius Fony i Quer Institute, from Manresa: Montserrat Miró i Vilà Institute, from Montcada i Reixac(*); La Salle of Girona; the Alexandre Deulofeu Institute, from Figueres; the Sant Just Institute, from Sant Just Desvern (***); the IES Vicent Castell i Domènech from Castelló (***); Joviat, from Manresa (*) and the Montsacopa Institute, from Olot

You can consult the list of all participating teams.  centers

Statements and solutions

• PDF with the statements. Link
• Solutions to the problems posed.
  • Problem 1 depended on the password. There were 14 different possibilities for the numbers a, b, c in the statement. We list them below in the format abc_solution. They are: 147_3, 176_5, 235_1, 283_4, 461_2, 476_8, 523_1, 583_7, 614_2, 714_3, 761_5, 764_8, 832_4, 835_7.
  • Solutions to the other problems in the first group: 270º, 5, 9.
  • Solutions to the second group of problems: 3412657; 2026; 8; 4 solutions, the largest 8.
  • Solutions to the final challenges: 10/3, 7/72
  • Solucions als problemes de propina:   E,  9p,  23103

Les persones que han donat el seu mail, com a impulsores i coordinadores  de l’activitat, en el seu centre rebran un correu electrònic durant el cap de setmana de 8 i 9 de febrer, amb un marcador detallat per a poder confrontar les dades que consten de la seva participació i un document amb idees per a la resolució raonada dels problemes plantejats.

  22 de gener de 2025
Problemes a l’esprint per a 5è i 6è de primària

• Participation. Han participat 49 equips de 31 centres escolars, que han fet constar una xifra de 1982 alumnes en total.
• Enunciats del problemes. Enllaç al PDF dels problemes de concurs i dels problemes de propina.
• Respostes:
  • Primer grup de problemes:  Si A i B són els nombres que intervenen, A+B-7;  6;  4, 7, sí; 10
  • Segon grup de problemes.  3; 11; 4; 32
  • Reptes finals:  28; 35 (en aquest cas, penseu en  i en altres, és clar)
  • Problemes de propina:  843500;  9;  36 i 8

La crònica detallada de l’activitat ha de començar amb una felicitació molt cordial als equips participants.  (Disculpeu, si us plau, el retard en la publicació d’aquesta crònica)

• The most outstanding team was that of the’Escola Jacint Verdaguer, de Tàrrega. que va enviar les respostes correctes als 10 reptes del concurs, sense cap errada, en un temps de menys de mitja hora.  Molt bé!!!  Per un missatge que hem rebut podem constatar que van treballar amb una estratègia ben adequada al treball en equip i, naturalment, el fet d’encert a la primara fa que el temps sigui molt bo. També van donar resposta correcta als tres reptes de propina (cosa que per a altres equips indicarem amb ***)
• The podium.   Uns altres tres equips van tenir un temps de concurs entre mitja hora i tres quarts. Very good too! Tots tres van tenir errada, després esmenada, en un dels tres grups de problemes. Són:
  • Un equip del Col·legi Sant Lluís, de Barcelona (***)
  • L’equip de  l’Escola Àngel Guimerà, de Tàrrega
  • L’equip de l’Escola Mowgli, d’Igualada  (***)
• En el grup següent d’equips molt destacats, amb un temps inferior a una hora (o pocs segons més els dos darrers equips que indiquem en aquest grup), we congratulate    un altre equip del Col·legi Sant Lluís, de Barcelona (***); un equip de l’Escola Thau, de Barcelona (*); Saint George’s School, de Fornells de la Selva; dos equips de l’Escola Carme Guasch i Darnés, de  Figueres, tots dos amb (***); dos equips d’ Aula Escola Europea, de Barcelona, un amb (***), l’altre (**); Esccola La Floresta de Sant Cugat del Vallès, i un equip de l’Escola Sinera, d’Arenys de Mar
• També han enviat totes les respostes correctes, en algun cas dedicant-hi molt de temps, aquest fet que ens fa dir que en algun aspecte els Sprint Problems they become Popular Race, the following teams: Escola Pia de Sarrià-Calassanç, from Barcelona; Institut Escola Manresa (**); Escola les Savines from Cervera; Escola Josep Pallach from Figueres (***); FEDAC Manresa (***); Escola Guillem de Claramunt from La Secuita (***); three more teams from Aula Escola Europea; Escola Bellpuig Sant Julià de Vilatorta; a team from Thau, Barcelona; Col·legi Santa Anna from Lleida; Escola El Tallat, from Sant Martí de Maldà (*) and a team from Col·legi John Talabot Barcelona (**). They also ended up invading all the correct answers, although out of competition, due to the large number of attempts they made in the third group of problems: Betània Patmos, from Barcelona, and Centre Educatiu Fax from L'Hospitalet.
• Participation is completed with the following teams, which also deserve congratulations for having spent a good while doing mathematics: Escola Els Porxos Barcelona; Madre Vedruna Sagrado Corazón Castelló; two teams from Escola Prat de la Riba d'Esplugues de Llobregat; Escola Pedra Blanca from La Pera; four more teams from John Talabot Barcelona; a second team from Escola Sinera d'Arenys de Mar; another team from Aula Escola Europea; Escola Pia Sant Miquel Barcelona; three teams from Escola Joan Casas de Sant Antoni de Vilamajor; Col·legi Pare Enric d'Ossó l'Hospitalet de Llobregat; a second team from Escola Les Savines Cervera; Escola Antoni Doltra, from Pineda de Mar

From the committee coordinating the activity, we believe it has been quite successful. 29 teams with total success out of 49 participants attest to this. Of course, there was a somewhat tricky problem that caused various attempts, but if it served to stimulate reasoning, it surely helped to spend a creative time. Thank you for your participation!

Contact if you wish to make any inquiry or comment: concursosscm@gmail.com

Information about the first call of this academic year

December 11, 2024. Sprint Problems 3rd and 4th ESO

Thank you! 
Thank you for participating in the first call of the 2024-2025 academic year of the Sprint Problems SCM/ FEEMCAT / Creamat. Thanks to all the students who thought about the problems and to the teachers who encouraged and coordinated them.

• Participation. 180 teams from 139 schools in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands participated, reporting a total of 3,596 students. Good data!
• Enunciats del problemes. Enllaç al PDF dels problemes de concurs i dels problemes de propina.
• Respostes:
  • Primer grup de problemes: 144 (for each password, the spy knew which three digits formed the first group of digits, three different digits that can be ordered in 6 ways; they also knew what the last two digits were, which can be ordered in two ways; and what the four letters were, in all cases one was repeated: they can be ordered in 12 ways and placing the first two at the beginning and the other two after.); 9; 159; 90º (for all password values).
  • Segon grup de problemes. If N is the number formed by the last two digits of the password, the answer is  N² – 9N +20; 2023 and 4; 63; 221.
  • Reptes finals:  100; 41.
  • Problemes de propina: 2/5; 25% of 8096; 2024 (considering that x · y = 1.)

After a manual review of the responses received (we apologize if there is any error) we can report that:

• There are 70 teams that sent correct answers to the first group of problems, 40 to the second group of problems, and 31 teams to the final challenges.
• There are 25 teams that have sent correct answers to all three groups of problems. A big congratulations to all of them!
  • They did it without any errors, listed in order of response time: Institut Manolo Hugué from Caldes de Montbui, IES Vicent Castell i Doménech, from Castelló, and Institut Ernest Lluch, from Barcelona.
  • Regarding the time they sent the correct answer, counting the competition time in less than one hour and fifteen minutes, in this order: Institut Manolo Hugué from Caldes de Montbui, Institut Montilivi from Girona, Col·legi Sant Lluís from Barcelona, Institut Quatre Cantons from Barcelona, IES Vicent Castell i Domènech from Castelló, Aula Escola Europea from Barcelona, and Maristes Sant Pere Chanel from Malgrat de Mar.
  • Completing the list of centers with total success (ordered by time of sending the last correct answer) Institut Nicolau Copèrnic from Terrassa, Institut Pius Font i Quer from Manresa, Saint George’s School from Fornells de la Selva, Institut Santa Eugènia from Girona, Institut Vidreres from Vidreres, La Salle Manlleu from Manlleu, Institut Samuel Gili i Gaya from Lleida, Escola el Cim from Vilanova i la Geltrú, La Salle Manresa from Manresa, Institut Marta Mata from Salou, Institut Jaume Vicens Vives from Girona, Institut Montserrat Miró i Vilà from Montcada i Reixac, Institut Salvador Dalí from El Prat de Llobregat, Institut Torre Roja from Viladecans, Institut Torregolosa from Castelló de la Plana, Institut Sant Just from Sant Just Desvern, and Institut Damià Campeny from Mataró.

We reiterate our congratulations to all participating teams and want to comment, to evaluate the results, that in the statement of the sprint problems it says

The key idea for organizing the activity is:  a team = group of students gathered in a classroom working in groups and subgroups who share ideas and results and collaborate with each other

and with this premise the statements are designed, which also states, in case there are students of different school levels in the team, that the first group of problems can be for the younger ones, the second group of problems for the older ones, and the final challenges for everyone.

However, from the organization we note that there are centers that find it more fitting to their didactic approach to make teams of few students; quite a few in this call. It is good that the activity has different possible approaches, but it is also clear that small teams find it more difficult to achieve success, if they achieve it at all. Be that as it may, congratulations to everyone for the time you have dedicated.