The Math Kangaroo 2024 exam is scheduled for March 21st. To help young math enthusiasts gear up for this year’s challenge, Think Academy has hosted a webinar: Commonly Missed Questions in Math Kangaroo Over the Past Three Years. These tricky questions stem from Math Kangaroo mock exams spanning from 2021 to 2023, and we’re eager to share our findings with you. This article distills key takeaways from the webinar, aiming to offer guidance to students and parents who may have missed out.

Leading the webinar is Teacher Judy, who oversees Think Academy’s Math Kangaroo online exams and teaches in the Math Kangaroo 5-Pointer Program. With her expertise in early education planning, she’s well-versed in the needs of younger students, including academic and competition planning.

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Click here to download the webinar slide deck – Commonly Missed Questions in Math Kangaroo Over the Past Three Years

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How to Achieve High Scores? Leverage Mistakes!

To aid students in their quest for high scores or awards, especially in the crucial final stretch leading up to Math Kangaroo, there’s a simple yet effective approach: “leverage mistakes.” Particularly when students have exhausted most of their practice material and new questions are scarce, what’s the game plan? The answer is straightforward: utilize missed questions to propel students toward higher scores. How to execute this effectively? We’ll delve into three key components:

1. Analyzing trends in the past Math Kangaroo exams.
2. Curating commonly missed questions.
3. Providing strategies to tackle these questions effectively.

Overall Trend of Math Kangaroo

Understanding the trend is crucial as we approach exam dates, especially for children who may face mindset challenges in the final stretch. It helps us set reasonable expectations for children at different grade levels, fostering a stable mindset.

Our analysis is based on Math Kangaroo exam questions with high participation rates over the past three years.

Key Observations:

• Grades 1-2 Award Challenges: Math Kangaroo’s awards are tougher in lower grades, needing a minimum of 75 points for the top 20%, involving near-perfect scores on three-point and four-point questions, and half correct on five-point questions—quite challenging for most.

• Rising Difficulty Across All Grades: Overall Math Kangaroo competitions have become even harder. For example, in 2021, only 11% scored 90 points or above for the top 5%, dropping to single digits by 2023. This is especially tough for younger students due to weaker reading skills, lack of systematic knowledge, and frequent forgetfulness.

Commonly Missed Questions and Their Solutions

Type 1: Same Wrong Answers

In this type, wrong answers exhibit a high level of consistency. These errors are typically easier for children to correct or improve upon. Generally, when children collectively choose the same incorrect answer, it’s often because they read the question too quickly, fell into a trap, had a vague understanding of the question, or encountered complexity during the exam, leading them to choose arbitrarily. Let’s explore together how we can ensure we avoid making mistakes during exams.

1a. Speedy Reading Leading to Traps

For instance, in this Level 1-2 question, despite its simplicity, 26.88% of children incorrectly chose 7 instead of the correct answer 8, overlooking the key detail that “Linda” is a girl.

Similarly, in Levels 3- 4, children often rush through questions. In this question, 23.44% of children hastily choose 100 as the answer, failing to recognize its complexity as the 21st question, worth four points. To solve it accurately, students must categorize each digit by considering one-digit, two-digit, and three-digit numbers.

Solution

How to avoid these careless mistakes? The solution is simple, just three steps:

1. Mark keywords.
2. Uncover the hidden meanings of keywords.
3. Put everything down on paper.

During exercises or online exams, it’s crucial to reflect on the meaning of keywords, make notes on scratch paper, and jot down calculations. This approach aids in maintaining accuracy. Parents of level 3-4 participants should pay more attention, as these mistakes become more common due to entrenched thinking patterns.

1b. Partial Understanding Leading to Incorrect Application

Looking at these wrong answers, we can imagine how children feel. They might think, “Oh, the teacher talked about this, easy peasy,” and then start writing down the answer. But why? Because encountering familiar questions usually brings joy. However, the more confident we feel, the more cautious we need to be. Math Kangaroo’s question bank isn’t extensive; it’s based on key concepts and designs many variations. So, when we encounter these partially understood problems, we shouldn’t rush to write down the answer; we must first understand what we don’t comprehend and grasp the essence of the method.

For example, in this level 1-2 question, children’s inherent thinking is to directly apply the learned method of “adding large numbers to small numbers” to find the middle number and then write it down, resulting in the incorrect answer of 15. However, this method is not applicable in this case. They know they should use a method but don’t understand why. Usually, in these types of questions, it’s because some numbers are being counted twice, and we need to subtract the sum of these

Finding Pattern Problems

Finding pattern problems are also prone to mistakes due to student’s incomplete comprehension. The answer to this level 1-2 question is 4, not 3. Why? Because merely observing the sequence, students may hastily identify the pattern like 2-2-3-3-4. However, upon closer inspection, we need to verify the pattern. It’s crucial to ensure all situations conform to the established pattern.

Interval Problems

Interval problems in Levels 3-4 are crucial and often have a high error rate. For example, In this question, many may directly choose the sixth floor because Candy is on the third floor, and according to the interval, three floors mean two flights of stairs. This indicates an inadequate understanding of the method, meaning they can’t fully grasp it. So, when dealing with interval problems, it’s essential to understand what intervals are, what constitutes them, and which items each interval corresponds to.

Chicken and Rabbit Problems

The same applies to the chicken and rabbit problems. Many children simply calculate without verifying whether it aligns with the problem-solving approach. Therefore, blind application of partially understood methods is a major cause of many incorrect answers.

Solution

The solution to this problem also involves two steps:

1. Don’t be impatient, read thoroughly.
2. Always remember to check your answers. Elimination: plugging each option into the question and eliminating the wrong answers.

Parents may worry that their kids lack time to review answers. Effective time management requires practice. We noticed in mock exams, many kids finish within 40-50 minutes despite having 75 minutes. We advise spending 3-4 minutes per question, with 30 seconds for reading and 1-2 minutes for solving. This leaves enough time to check each answer. Parents can help instill the habit of checking answers.

1c. Complexity Leading to Reluctance to Think

For these types of problems, many kids just find them too challenging and decide it’s not worth the effort. I mean, I’ve gone over it multiple times, and it’s still a complete mystery to me, so I just let it go. Thus, the error rate for these kinds of questions is quite high.

In Levels 1-2, the difficulty arises mainly from a lack of comprehension. However, in Levels 3-4, it’s more about the complexity of the problems, which require navigating through numerous steps. it’s more like these problems have too many hoops to jump through. So, students can’t devote the full attention needed to each step. Take this one, for example:

First, you need to understand what the rule is, then determine the number range between 52 and 63. After finding those 10 digits, go through them one by one to see if they meet the criteria. Hence, many kids stumble here, forgetting digits or simply not being sharp on division, as there are too many steps involved in solving this problem.

For questions of this nature, children may initially struggle to know where to begin, particularly those at Levels 1-2.

Solution

1. Translate the text into numerical models.
2. Don’t give up, try a few approaches first!

Although Math Kangaroo questions may seem lengthy, they essentially elaborate on simple statements. Children need the skill to condense lengthy passages into concise notes. Moreover, it’s crucial not to give up easily. By attempting several times, either the answer is found, or understanding of the problem-solving method deepens.

Type 2: Different Wrong Answers or No Answers

Lack of Mastery in Knowledge Concepts

The characteristics of this type of question are quite evident, namely that children lack the necessary knowledge when attempting them. Take the following question as an example:

It is a rather difficult problem involving subtraction with multiples. The number of unanswered reaches 45. They skip this question because they anticipate it will take up a lot of time, and they may not even know how to answer it. Therefore, when faced with this type of problem, the most important thing is to learn to master the relevant concepts.

Common Challenges in Levels 1-2: Spatial, Queueing, Interval

For example, in this spatial question, children must visualize a 2D figure as a 3D one and make turns from a first-person perspective. This can be very challenging, and mastering spatial imagination requires regular practice.

Common Challenge in Levels 3-4

• Spatial: Folding Paper, Opposite Faces of a Cube, 3D Shapes
• Logical: Logical Reasoning, Repulsion

Moving on to Levels 3-4, the difficulties increase. These topics may be particularly challenging and require additional practice to master.

For questions where students lack mastery in knowledge concepts, there’s no shortcut: if they don’t get it, they need to learn from scratch. Think Academy offers a thorough learning process, including 4-pointer and 5-pointer classes. We also provide extra practice sessions. Once students feel confident, we conduct regular mock exams to help them improve, specifically targeting areas where they lack understanding.

Upcoming Think Academy Math Kangaroo Classes:

[online] MK LV 1-2 Advanced Level (5-pointer)

[online] MK LV 3-4 Advanced Level (5-pointer)

Final Stretch Focus: Questions with Same Wrong Answers

Questions with the same wrong answers should be the focus during the final stretch, as they represent the types of mistakes we can address more effectively to help students achieve higher scores. They assess students’ abilities in three key aspects.

1. Speedy reading leading to traps –> Can you accurately identify the problem?
2. Partial understanding leading to incorrect application –> Can you flexibly solve problems?
3. Complexity leading to reluctance to think –> Are you up for challenges? Can you create solutions?

And these abilities are what Think Academy can help you develop! Math Kangaroo is a test for children, but it’s also a learning opportunity. Through mistakes, children can improve their problem-solving skills and experience a sense of accomplishment. Our goal is to help children gradually build confidence in this process, letting them know that failure is not scary; what’s important is to learn from mistakes and make progress.

How to Improve by Learning from Mistakes?

Step 1: Organize Past Missed Questions

Parents can assist children in organizing their past missed questions. By logging into our Think Academy website, clicking on “My Account” in the top right corner, and accessing the “Test Results” section, all missed questions from previous tests and exercises can be listed.

Step 2: Categorize Missed Questions

Instead of rushing to solve missed questions, categorize them first. Determine whether the missed questions stem from a lack of understanding of the problem, misinterpretation, or insufficient knowledge of the topic.

Step 3: Reflect and Summarize Based on Categories

After categorizing missed questions and identifying their causes, reflect on them. If the issue arises from a lack of clarity in understanding, remind yourself to read more carefully. If it’s due to inadequate knowledge, prioritize learning those topics.

Step 4: Redo Missed Questions and Outline Steps

Once you understand the reasons behind the missed questions, redo the questions. The key step here is to continuously remind yourself of the reflections made earlier. Additionally, always outline the steps taken to better understand why certain steps are correct or incorrect. This process will lead to a deeper understanding and better utilization of missed questions.

How Think Academy Can Help You with Your Math Kangaroo Final Prep?

At Think Academy, we have a structured approach to help you prepare effectively: organize missed questions, summarize methods, and conduct comprehensive testing. By integrating these steps, missed questions become manageable.

For all students, we’ve compiled a collection of missed questions from the past three years’ mock exams. Join our WeChat or WhatsApp group by scanning the QR code below to receive this collection for free, covering various question types.

Additionally, we’ll arrange for MK coaches to accompany mock exams on March 9th and 10th, two weeks before the exam. Think Academy’s Math Kangaroo Award Aiming Classes offer students mock tests, analysis, and techniques to tackle potential exam challenges. Following this, all participants will have a chance to take a free full mock exam to apply their learned techniques.

We hope the webinar and key takeaways from this article are helpful for Math Kangaroo 2024 participants handling missed questions, fostering their sense of accomplishment, and reinforcing their understanding of key concepts. For any questions, please reach out to info@thethinkacademy.com.

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