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Mathematical Kangaroo

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Mathematical Kangaroo (also anything elseInternational Mathematical Kangaroo and Kangourou sans frontières, the original French name) is an international mathematical competition with more than 50 countries that take an active part in it. There are twelve levels of participation: from grade 1 to grade 12. The competition is held annually on the third Thursday of March. According to the organizers, the key competence tested by the Kangaroo is logical combination, not just pure knowledge of formulas. Because of the rising popularity of the Mathematical Kangaroo in many participating countries, it is currently the most participated scholar math competition: over 5,000,000 students from 47 countries took part in 2009.

History

The competition was established in 1991 by Andre Deledicq, a professor of mathematics at the University of Paris 7, and Jean-Pierre Boudine,[1] professor of mathematics at Marseille. The idea comes from the great Australian Mathematics Competition, initiated in 1978 by Peter O'Halloran,[2] and is based on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) - an original formula, unused in France at that time, at least for mathematics. For this competition, Jean-Pierre Boudine and André Deledicq have been awarded the 1994 d'Alembert prize of the Mathematical Society of France.

Format

The competition is executed as a 75 minutes multiple choice test, consisting of 30 questions (up to 4th grade, only 24 questions). The sections for the 3 point, 4 point, and 5 point questions are equally divided. The minimum score is 0, and the maximum score is 120 (up to 4th grade, only 96). There is a -1 point penalty for an incorrect answer, but no penalty for skipping a question.

Prizes

Evaluation and collecting of results as well as the prizes are regulated and organized nationally. Special prizes are given for the “longest kangaroo jump” (the highest number of consecutive correct answers) for each school.

See also

References

  1. ^ Jean-Pierre Boudine biography at French Wikipedia
  2. ^ Obituary: Peter Joseph O'Halloran (1931-1994) at AMT website
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