The Mathematical Association of America is the world’s largest community of mathematicians, students, and enthusiasts.
In 1950, the first Mathematical Contest, sponsored by the New York Metropolitan Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), took place. It was given in approximately 200 schools to around 6,000 students in the New York area only. Today, the competition has grown to over 300,000 students participating annually, in over 4,000 schools.
The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple-choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development of problem-solving skills.
The AMC 8 provides an opportunity for middle school students to develop positive attitudes towards analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers. Students apply classroom skills to unique problem-solving challenges in a low-stress and friendly environment.
The material covered on the AMC 8 includes topics from a typical middle school mathematics curriculum. Possible topics include but are not limited to counting and probability, estimation, proportional reasoning, elementary geometry including the Pythagorean Theorem, spatial visualization, everyday applications, and reading and interpreting graphs and tables. In addition, some of the later questions may involve linear or quadratic functions and equations, coordinate geometry, and other topics traditionally covered in a beginning algebra course.
The AMC 8 is the first in a series of competitions that eventually lead all the way to the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
