The Student Merit Award Program was designed to motivate, stimulate and reward students for their study and achievement outside the mathematics classroom by providing enrichment material on a variety of mathematical topics. In general, these topics are either not found in the standard middle school curriculum or represent a more in-depth study of standard topics. The topics, presented in 15 units, include: microcomputer programs; divisibility; pi and its history; Pascal and his triangle; magic squares; pentominoes; the history of mathematics; the metric system; mathematics and home economics; stamps that depict history and mathematics; statistics; tangrams; applications of mathematics in nursing; exploring angles; and explorations in modular arithmetic. Each unit consists of a teacher's section and a student section (which may be duplicated) composed of largely independent "requirements" to be completed. Although the units vary in length, most require between 10 and 30 hours of outside research and writing. Teachers can either assign units to be done or allow students to select those that interest them. A sample certificate that can be reproduced and awarded to students on completion of each unit is included. (JN)