Start a tradition for your school and compete against other schools in a math field day competition. Develop categories or work with what the other schools have created and form teams to play against them. Measurement and geometry; statistics; algebra and function; and probability are among the subject headings used by the Orange County (Calif.) Math Council, which has sponsored math field days for the last 19 years.
The famous handheld mathematical puzzle the Rubik's Cube, invented by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik in 1974, is the basis for much math study in problem solving. During a portion of math field day while teams are competing, allow alternates to have their own competition in which they race to solve Rubik's Cube. To help students learn the different ways to solve the puzzle, first host a Rubik's Cube Workshop to discuss the intricacies of the 54-sided demon math problem.
Post a scoreboard in a conspicuous place and make it large enough to be seen from all areas of the playing field. Give each team a chance to tally the scores from events, and have them keep running totals of each team's standing; how many points separate the leader from the other places; and what other teams could do to catch up. For instance, list that the fourth-place team could vault into first place by winning the next two events.
Form a club called the Math Field Day Club. Appoint or elect students to the club, and ask the group to plan the math field day. After allowing the club members to create and describe the events and select team members and team names, place the Math Day Field Club in charge of running the show on the big day. Assign one or two club members to each event to serve as officials and direct other volunteers.