Michigan Tech’s Center for Pre-College Outreach (CPCO) will be hosting the 10th annual Tivitz Tournament today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the SDC Wood Gym. Seven schools from the western Upper Peninsula will be sending about 150 students from grades 4 through 7.
Tivitz is a board game that combines the logic and strategy of checkers/chess with arithmetic problem-solving. Students move their play pieces (tivits) across the game board, one at a time, until they reach goal spaces. Once they reach the other side of the board, they must solve the indicated math problem correctly to score the most points. Pairs of students will play one practice and three scored rounds in a friendly competition to wind up among the highest-scoring in their grade.
Between rounds of Tivitz play, students and staff of Michigan Tech will lead several hands-on activities that demonstrate mathematical concepts.
“Our goal is to show interesting demos that involve math to compliment Tivitz game play,” says Liz Fujita, coordinator at CPCO. “There is a lot of math in everyday life, and a lot of little oddities that are fun to consider.”
The Tivitz Tournament is made possible by the CPCO in partnership with the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education.