All About Math Olympiad Training & Questions

[cchew]

HyperKiasu:

Hi, thanks for d info.
IMSO means the participants need to take both math and science?
so how are they selected? SPSO is not the only contest as a basis for selection?. :roll:

tnx

Students from SPSO will represent the science section.
Students from NMOS will represent the math section.

If a student is top for both contest, he need to choose one section to respresent.

From http://oas.highsch.nus.edu.sg/spso/
\"The top students from these rounds of SPSO will be shortlisted for a training programme conducted by NUS High School in preparation for the International Mathematics & Science Olympiad (IMSO). The final squad, which consists of six official participants and two reserves, will be selected to form the Science team to represent Singapore in IMSO 2013.\"


From http://oas.highsch.nus.edu.sg/NMOS/
\"The top 20 individual winners of NMOS will be shortlisted to join the training squad for IMSO 2012. Within the training squad, a final team of 6 official participants and 2 reserves will be selected to form the Mathematics team for IMSO 2012. Only the 6 official participants are eligible to travel.\"

[HyperKiasu]

cchew:

HyperKiasu:

Hi, thanks for d info.
IMSO means the participants need to take both math and science?
so how are they selected? SPSO is not the only contest as a basis for selection?. :roll:

tnx

Students from SPSO will represent the science section.
Students from NMOS will represent the math section.

If a student is top for both contest, he need to choose one section to respresent.

From http://oas.highsch.nus.edu.sg/spso/
\"The top students from these rounds of SPSO will be shortlisted for a training programme conducted by NUS High School in preparation for the International Mathematics & Science Olympiad (IMSO). The final squad, which consists of six official participants and two reserves, will be selected to form the Science team to represent Singapore in IMSO 2013.\"


From http://oas.highsch.nus.edu.sg/NMOS/
\"The top 20 individual winners of NMOS will be shortlisted to join the training squad for IMSO 2012. Within the training squad, a final team of 6 official participants and 2 reserves will be selected to form the Mathematics team for IMSO 2012. Only the 6 official participants are eligible to travel.\"

ok, thanks

[Absolutely Bo Chap]

Actually, there is only one Mathematical Olympiad in Singapore that really matters, namely, the one organised by the Singapore Mathematical Society. There are 3 different papers, namely, Junior, Senior and Open.


http://sms.math.nus.edu.sg/competitions/CompetitionHomePage.aspx

If the student performed well in the above compeition, he or she will earn a place in SIMO, which is the training ground for the Singapore National Training Teams.

http://sms.math.nus.edu.sg/SIMO/SIMO.htm

The National Training Team is subdivided into 3 groups - Junior, Senior and National. Note that all the trainings are free-of-charge and are sponsored by the Ministry of Education.

Students ranging from Primary 6 to Seconday 2 may enter the Junior Training based on their performances in the Junior paper.

Thereafter, they will advance to the Senior Training if they perform well in the Junior Training Tests. Entrances into the National Training or re-entrance into the Senior Training are based on performance on the Paper 2 of the Open Section of the Singapore Mathematical Olymiad.

The final 6 to represent Singapore in the International Mathematical Olympiad is based on the National Team Selection Tests.

All other \"Maths Olympiads\", regardless whether organised by RI, Hwa Chong, NUS High, do not matter. Participants will not enter into or be rejected by SIMO regardless if they do well or badly in these competitions.

However, some schools also send teams to overseas compeitions, for example, NUS High in the IMSO or RI in the China SouthEast Asia MO. However, they are not representing Singapore, officially or otherwise.

[Absolutely Bo Chap]

There are 5 different ways to make a difficult maths problems.


1. Use something from a more advanced level, for examaple, giving a Sec 4 problem to a Pri 6 student.

2. Use of tedious computations.

3. Use of trial-and-error.

4. Use of pattern recognition.

5. Use of a problem that requires innovative application of existing knowledge.

Strictly speaking, problems from the IMO belong to type 5. Type 1 to 4 problems would not appear in the IMO.

In the actual IMO, there are 2 papers and each paper has only 3 problems to be solved in 4.5 hours time. The solutions do not require anything beyond high school mathematics and some have simple and elegant solutions. Yet, there are participants who get zero. So the analytical and critical thinking are tested to extreme levels.

From this perspective, engaging into proper olympiad mathematical training is good for developing sharp analytical skills, thinking-outside-the-box skills and critical thinking skills. However, more often than not, there are many "instructors" who are not qualified, do not possess any of these skills themselves and are only here to make a quick buck. (Remember Kelvin Ong?)

While undergoing Maths Olympiad training is good, it is not necessarily true that parents who pay tons of money to train their children mean that their kids will develop such skills eventually. Particularly when the "instructor" does not even possess the skills himself.

[Absolutely Bo Chap]

Kebun Baru CC is organising a 2 day Mathematical Olympiad workshop from 18th to 19th March 2013, 9.00am to 1.00pm.


Here are the poster problems:

1. Let ABC be an isosceles triangle and D be a point inside triangle ABC.
AB = AC = BD
Angle BAC = 90 deg
Angle ABD = 30 deg
Find angle BCD.

Ans:\t30 deg

2. A group of workers need to mow two fields.
• The area of the large field is twice the area of the small field.
• On Day 1, all the workers mow the large field.
• On Day 2, half the workers mow the large field and half the workers mow the small field. The large field is fully mowed by the end of Day 2.
• On Day 3, two workers mow the remaining of the small field. The small field is fully mowed by the end of Day 3.
How many workers are there?

Ans:\t8 workers

3. 2 friends are having a conversation.
A: The product of the ages of my 3 children is 144.
B: What are their ages?
A: The sum of their ages is the number of books on the shelf.
(B counts the number of books.)
B: I still do not know their ages.
A: Oh, yes. I forgot to mention that I do not have twins.
What are the ages of the 3 children?

Ans:\t3, 6 and 8 years old

Here is the banner problem:

4. Let ABC be an isosceles triangle.
Let D be a point on AC.
Let E be a point on BD.
AB = AC = BD = CE
CD = DE
Find angle CDE.

Ans:\t100 deg

I think the banner problem is the most difficult.

[mathsoasis]

HI I think the NMOS is likely to be on first week or second week of July. They are usually held the first Wednesday after the school reopens on Term 3.

[mathsoasis]

nz:

Hi,

Can anyone share what are the benefits of joining the P6 Math Olympiad Training in school? Not so much on the competition. More on what they have learn from the training. Am deciding if I should let my child participate. Thanks.

There are usually 3 types of questions that are contained within the Primary Maths Syllabus and they revolve around A) Knowledge B) Comprehension C) Application.

Maths Olympiad Training normally trains the students to apply their knowledge of maths in various situations. Hence the benefits to the child for a good MO programme is flexibility of thinking, enhanced problem solving skills and ability to apply prior knowledge to solve problems creatively.

[Absolutely Bo Chap]

Any proposed solutions to the poster problems and banner problems?

[Absolutely Bo Chap]

Problems 1 & 2 can be solved, though with a bit of efforts. Problems 3 & 4 remain challenging.

[mathsoasis]

For Question 3, is the number of books shown on the banner?