otago problem solving answers 2015

Otago Problem Solving

Otago university maths  problem-solving challenge.

At Kenakena we have been focusing on delivering a school-wide maths programme where problem-solving is at the heart.

Problem Challenge is a mathematics problem solving competition aimed primarily at Intermediate School children. It is organised by members of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Otago ( https://www.maths.otago.ac.nz/pc/ ).

Children participating in the competition attempt to answer five questions in 30 minutes on each of five problem sheets, which are done about a month apart starting in April.

The Otago University programme is well suited to what we do and our participating students do really well. Children from Years 6 to 8 are nominated by their teachers based on a recognised ability to solve demanding mathematical problems. In 2015, 55% of our students who participated achieved an Excellence award!

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Copies of past examination papers are available online through the Library website.

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Problem Challenge: Otago Maths Competition Book 6 (2015 - 2019) - including Final Challenge

Test/Exam Preparation | Mathematics Study & Revision Guides

Each year Intermediate School children (Years 7 & 8) tackle 25 challenging maths questions of a problem solving nature. Each year Intermediate School children (Years 7 & 8) tackle 25 challenging maths questions of a problem solving nature. The sixth competition book is similar to Books 3, 4 and 5 and features all 125 problems from 2015 to 2019, together with the corresponding questions from the Final Challenge competition (another 100 questions). It features coloured illustrations, full solutions and analysis, and ideas for extension work. Another 116 pages of problem solving!

$39 .99 NZD

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• ISBN : PRCHOTAG6
• Publisher : University of Otago
• Imprint : University of Otago
• Publication date : 01 November 2023
• Product Type : books

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Welcome to the Junior Mathematics Competition!

This year the competition will be held in two parts – the first being a multiple-choice and short answer exam sat entirely online , while the second part will be a paper exam limited to the top 15 percent of participants in the first part.

The first part of the competition will be sat from Monday April 4 to Friday April 8 inclusive , while the second part will be held on Wednesday May 11 .

2022 is the 37th year of this highly successful Competition.

This mathematics competition is for students in years 9 to 11 (forms 3 to 5), although younger students may also take part. Every student throughout New Zealand sits the competition on exactly the same days, usually two Wednesdays in April in May (one for each part).

The competition lasts for 50 minutes per part (so one hour, 40 minutes in total). The emphasis is on problem solving, so expect surprises!

Mathematical skills are important, but so is careful reading. Students who read the questions carefully and work out exactly what is being asked generally do better than those who jump in and write down the first thing that springs to mind.

Although many of the same questions are asked for each year level, students only compete against students at the same level as themselves. (However students in years 7 or 8 are regarded as being in year 9 for the purposes of the competition.)

Hi there, this is another post.

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Otago Problem Solving

The competition started around the early 1990’s in South Island schools, but after about two years, the competition became available to schools all over New Zealand with students in years 7 and 8. Some younger children can sometimes participate too. In most years about 650 schools enter problem challenges, involving over 35,000 children.

Each year students answer 5 questions in 30 minutes, over 5 sets of work, and at the end of each competition everyone receives a certificate. 10% get excellence, 30% get a merit, while the others receive a participation award.

We think that everyone who participated had a great time and enjoyed pushing themselves in that category. A quote from Harry, “I really loved the challenge and even though I didn’t do brilliantly I have thoroughly enjoyed it and improved on my maths.”

Here are some questions from the quiz

The school soccer team has played 15 games with a success rate of 80%. In order to raise their success rate to 90% in the shortest possible time, how many consecutive games must they win?

All of Toby’s marbles are either blue, red, green, or yellow. One third of his marbles are blue, one quarter of them are red, and seven of them are green.

What is the smallest number of yellow marbles that Toby could have?

Written by Aydin Khajehzadeh and Harry Baddington

Otago Problem Solving

Kia ora Otago Problem Solvers,

Yes, it is time for the final session! We return to school tomorrow and I'm sure you will all be too busy to do any more Otago questions. Traditionally we have finished well before November.

Thank you to all the students who regularly completed the questions - you know who you are...as do I, as I kept a list! :-)

[email protected]

Term 4 - Week 5 - Session 10 - *If you would like a set of questions, please email me :- ) [email protected]

Term 4 - Week 5 - Session 9 - FINAL SESSION!

Term 4 - Week 4 - Session 8

Term 4 - Week 4 - Session 7

Term 4 - Week 3 - Session 6

Term 4 Week 3 - Session 5

Term 4 - Week 2 - Session 4

Term 4 - Week 2 - Session 3

Term 4 - Week 1 - Session 2

Term 4 - Week1 - Session 1

Session 11 - Thursday 30th September *Last Session of Term 3

Session 10 - Tuesday 28th September

Session 9 - Thursday 23rd September

Session 8 - Tuesday 21st September

Session 7 - Thursday 16th September

Session 6 - Tuesday 14th September

Session 5 - Thursday 9th September

Session 4 - Tuesday 7th September

Kia ora All - for Session 4 I would like you to send me an email [email protected] requesting a copy of today's questions/video. The reason for this is to check how many of you are actually completing the questions - I'm currently only getting the same 6 - 8 students sending me their answers and there are 36 students in the Otago problem solving group.

Thanks Bevan

*If you are not part of the Otago Group and would like to try some of the questions please also send me an email.

Remember to email me your answers - [email protected]

Otago Problem Solving

Every year Whakatāne Intermediate School gives opportunity to any student who wants to take part in the Otago Problem Solving challenges. Around 250 students on average participate in these exams.

What is Otago Problem Solving?

Problem Solving is 5 sets of 5 difficult maths problem solving questions. Each set or group of questions are spaced out through the year.

Why do we give students the opportunity to participate?

There are multiple reasons why we give students this opportunity.

Some students just love math.

To give students the chance to compare themselves mathematically nationwide.

For the experience of sitting a test.

It gives teachers another measurement of students ability.

It is a significant accomplishment for students to achieve 5/5 for a set. This achievement is recognised at our formal assembly held each Friday.

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The table below indicates the achievement of year 4 and year 8 students on those assessments, attempted by both groups of students, which were evaluative, rather than descriptive, and which were judged to be substantially based on problem-solving skills.

The assessments were also classified according to the kind of thinking required to solve the problems using the classifications from the NZ Curriculum Framework:

• creative thinking
• reflective thinking
• logical thinking

There were very few assessments which might possibly have been classified as involving critical thinking, the other classification in the Framework, and these were included in the reflective thinking group.

The overall achievement of students in problem-solving assessments involving these different kinds of thinking is given below:

In those learning areas for which there have been two cycles of assessment, the achievement in the trend tasks, which were common to both assessments, gives a measure of changes in performance over time. The overall achievement in these problem-solving sub-tasks is given below

Problem-solving skills were assessed in each of the reports. Student achievement was quite variable, indicating the importance of context in problem-solving.

There appears to be less improvement in creative thinking between year 4 and year 8 than in either reflective or logical thinking. The growth in reflective and logical thinking might be anticipated on the basis of developmental stages, but the smaller growth in creative thinking might be considered disappointing.

There is no evidence of substantial change in problem-solving skills between the two cycles of assessment.

Past Exam Papers - Search Results

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Support for schools

Introduction.

This page contains links to resources for schools created by Sandy Garner and Anthony Robins at the Computer Science Department, University of Otago.

PFST101 - A course for teachers

Programming For Secondary Teachers (PFST101) is an online course on programming in Python, tailored to the NCEA programming standards. It is being offered (in conjunction with Otago's College of Education) in the second semester (running from 31 August to 14 December 2015). Please see this pdf for details, and this page for responses to some frequently asked questions.

Programming workbooks

We have written workbooks to support the NCEA programming standards, with versions in both Java and Python:

• Year 12 Programming and Problem Solving: Student Workbook In Python
• Year 12 Programming and Problem Solving: Student Workbook In Java
• Year 13 Programming With Objects And Graphical User Interfaces: Student Workbook In Python
• Year 13 Programming With Objects And Graphical User Interfaces: Student Workbook In Java

Find out more here .

Notes on the standards

We have written some notes on the programming standards, including interpretations of the Achieved Merit and Excellence step-ups, and including example programs (in Python). These have been presented at various CS4HS events 2011-2013. They have no "official" status, they are just our opinions and informal advice.

We think robotics is a great platform for teaching programming. We may develop some resources for this in the future. In the meantime - you might want to consider the annual RoboCup Junior competition .

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Classroom Activities

Problem Challenge  a mathematics problem solving competition aimed at intermediate school children, run by staff of the Department of Mathematics at Otago University.

Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching  lots of cool problems using maths in the real world - how much does walking up hill slow down your pace? How likely is that two people in a group will have the same birth date?

Math Maven's Mysteries  lots of activities at varying levels of difficulty.

NZ Maths  lots of activities and lessons arranged by subject, including, algebra, statistics, geometry, measurement, and more.

The Magic of a Million Activity Book - hands-on activities to explore a million and other big numbers.

Welcome to the subject guide for mathematics in education

The Education Library has a comprehensive range of print and online resources with specialist staff to help you to locate the information you need. Visit, email, or phone the library for assistance.

Curriculum documents

Mathematics picture books at the education library.

• Mathematics picture books

There are many maths picture books at 513.211 in the Classroom Collection. Browsing the shelves is the easiest way to locate books.

You can find the books listed in the PDF document under the first three letters of author’s surname, in the Picture Book section. For example, a book by Russell Bishop will be found at BIS.

Web Resources

TKI Mathematics Community  contains information and material for teaching mathematics to support the New Zealand curriculum.

New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers

New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (NZIMA)  NZIMA undertakes and supports a range of activities in New Zealand that promote excellence in the mathematical sciences. Includes MathsReach - a resource to promote mathematics at high school level.

New Zealand Mathematics  Units and lesson plans by level and curriculum strand, in Maori and English, focussing on problem solving. Overview of NZ Mathematics curriculum, levels 1-6 and related material. This website includes the 'Figure-it-out' series, full text online.

Maths Reach  An outreach initiative of the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics to demonstrate the applications of maths in the world around us.

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• Last Updated: Apr 12, 2024 3:55 PM
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