2008 Integration Bee Entry Form

Potential and Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. The Integration Bee sounds cool....where do I sign up?

    2. Please fill out our Integration Bee form, Here, and either email it to csusmathclub@gmail.com, or drop the form off in Brighton 118 on the CSUS campus.

  2. What's the exam format?

    3. It is not multiple choice, but you do not need to show work either. Therefore, if you happen to get the correct answer from guessing, your answer will be counted for full points as much as if your neighbor wrote out every step to get the same answer. However, if there is a tie in the preliminaries (to get to the final round) we will look at a tie-breaker question, and partial credit will be used for this one question.

  3. How many questions are there?

    4. For the preliminary round you will be given 11 questions, 1 question at a time, and you will not be allowed to go back to a previous question. The last question will be the tie-breaker question. [For more info see the Official Rules]

  4. What's the duration of the exam?

    5. Preliminaries are will most likely be from 2-3pm (we may have a second round from 3-4pm if more than 50 people want to compete, but you only need to go to one Prelim round). At 3:45pm there will be an early dinner buffet for the contestants - the dinner will have two types of pasta, vegetables, fruit, and other bread items and you can choose what you want to eat.

    At 5:30pm the Final Round will start, most likely, in the Hinde Auditorium - at 5:30 the we will announce the top 12 to 16 contestants who will be competing in the finals. If you don't make it to finals no one will know except for yourself and anyone you've told that you are competing - there will be an audience for this round, so you are free to stay and watch with the audience or leave at your leisure. If you are in the top 12 to 16 you will have to go outside with the other finalists and wait until your turn is called to compete - there will be 3 people competing on stage at a time. The stage is set up so that each person gets their own whiteboard, but there are partitions between whiteboards so that the other contestants can't see.

    During the finals you may miss one problem, but contestants get eliminated when they miss two. Again - what we are looking for here is the answer - not method or proof.

    The latest the finals can go is 9pm, but we will probably finish at 8-8:30pm. If you make it to the top 3 you may win an IPOD or a digital camera or a prize valued at $1000.

  5. I'm a graduate student (or I graduated from college), can I compete?

    6. Unfortunately, you won't be able to actually compete in the bee. To keep the competition at least somewhat fair we limited the people who could enter to only current undergraduates. From what it looks like, this competition is going to be pretty exciting and audience members are free to work out solutions to questions from their seats. We will also draw audience member names for door prizes!

  6. I'm a high school student, can I compete?

    7. Yes. This year the Math Club has decided to include any local high school students that would like to compete. The student must be attending a Sacramento high school. Please fill out our application, available Here.

  7. Why do you have to have a sign-up deadline at all?

    8. We have the sign-up deadline because we need to know how many pages of each problem to print off (1 per contestant), and also to plan for some logistics if more people sign up than we have spots for in the testing room.

  8. What are the prizes?

    9. Last year's first place received 1000$ in Visa gift cards. Second place received a digital camera, and third place an iPod Shuffle. The top 12 finalists received USB drives.

  9. Do I need to bring anything?

    10. Please bring a photo ID to the event. We will provide food, pencils, paper and anything else needed for the event. Calculators will not be allowed for the event.

  10. Are only the contestants allowed at the reception?

    11. Contestants may choose to bring their family and friends to the reception, but please let them know that the contestants will be served food first.

Rules

Official Rules for the 2007 Sac State Integration Bee (Round I & Round II)

  1. All contestants must bring a photo ID to the event.
  2. Participants must correctly evaluate single variable indefinite integrals in the time allotted.
  3. All participants will be given the same integral.
  4. The methodologies that may be employed to evaluate a given integral are:
    1. u-substitution
    2. Integration by Parts
    3. Integrals Involving Trigonometric Functions
    4. Trigonometric Substitution
    5. Partial Fractions
    6. Rational Substitution
    7. Memory
  5. No electronic devices (i.e., calculators, PDA's, etc.), printed materials, or notes will be allowed during the competition.
  6. For Round I, once the integral is evaluated, contestants will turn their final responses face down and wait until further instructions are given.
  7. After Round I is complete, the judges will choose the top twelve (12) participants who will advance to the next round based upon the number of correct integrals from questions one through ten in Round I . In the event of a tie, question 11 from the preliminary test will be evaluated by the judges and a contestant will be chosen to move on to the next round. In the event of a tie for the first, second, or third spot, tie-breaker integrals will be given as needed until the tie is broken.
  8. Beginning in Round II, all contestants will be allowed to miss one integral. After a second misevaluation, the contestant will be eliminated.
  9. Arbitrary constants and proper absolute values will not be considered in the evaluation.
  10. The judges will have full discretion as to what integrals will be issued throughout the contest, and as to the correctness of the answer.
  11. During Round II, when a contestant is finished working on an integral, they may put down their pen as an indication to the judges that what they have given is to be their final answer.
  12. There will be an official timekeeper who will be in control of the amount of time that the participants are allowed for each integral (5 minutes). The time for each integral will be announced. The judges have the discretion to extend the announced time, but not to shorten it. (The only exception to this would be the following: If each contestant has put their pen down to indicate that they are finished, then the judges may stop time.) Shortly before time is up, there will be a warning given by the timekeeper. For example, "There are 20 seconds remaining."
  13. The last three contestants will be ranked as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.
  14. Prizes will be awarded to all finalists. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will select the award of their choice in ranked order. In addition, all finalists will receive a prize. All contestants will receive a certificate of participation.