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Math and logistics - SAJ makes the link for students at Math Expo 2016

Published:Monday | April 4, 2016 | 12:00 AM
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Students stream into the Shipping Association of Jamaica and Caribbean Maritime Institute's booth.
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Students from the Immaculate Conception Prep school listen as their teacher reads out shipping and logistics questions for them to solve during a visit to the SAJ’s booth at the Math Expo 2016.
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This bright, young student receives a phonecard from SAJ member services officer Monique Morrison which he won after being the first in his class to solve a logistics problem on the spot.
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Students stream into the Shipping Association of Jamaica and Caribbean Maritime Institute's booth.
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The marine transportation and logistics industry is built on the mathematics of distribution. In fact, one of the most important parts of the logistics business is data. Gathering and interpreting data requires familiarity with logistics systems and planning concepts, spreadsheet data management, and statistics applications. Today, more than ever, it takes a strong mathematical mind to manage those systems.

It is for this reason that the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) sought to provide an interactive exploration of mathematical concepts and theories related to shipping and logistics by participating in the fourth staging of the Ministry of Education's National Mathematics Expo.

More than 8,000 students, teachers and education officials from the pre-primary to tertiary level, converged recently on the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, for the exposition which wrapped up the ministry's National Mathematics Week that was observed from March 6-11, under the theme: 'Math Counts'.

The objective of the expo was to create an environment where students can interact with the subject in a way that was fun, engaging, and that will help them appreciate and see its relevance and its many applications in everyday life.

At the SAJ/Caribbean Maritime Institute booth, students representing various primary, secondary, and tertiary schools across the island were exposed to models of the equipment used during daily activities in the shipping industry. These included miniature cranes, reach stackers, trucks, shipping containers, ships, and navigation equipment.

Guided by the theme 'Math Counts', the students were challenged to solve mathematics questions ranging from basic math to trigonometry. Successful students received prizes for producing the correct answers.