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1 - Introduction and Patterns in Math

This document provides an introduction to the Bohua Math Olympiad class, which aims to teach 4th-6th graders important math concepts and problem solving skills through weekly lessons and practice problems in preparation for monthly math contests held from November to March. The class will cover topics like patterns, factors, geometry, and more, with a focus on arithmetic and geometric sequences, special sequences like squares and cubes, and finding patterns in numbers and arithmetic operations.

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kevin
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146 views

1 - Introduction and Patterns in Math

This document provides an introduction to the Bohua Math Olympiad class, which aims to teach 4th-6th graders important math concepts and problem solving skills through weekly lessons and practice problems in preparation for monthly math contests held from November to March. The class will cover topics like patterns, factors, geometry, and more, with a focus on arithmetic and geometric sequences, special sequences like squares and cubes, and finding patterns in numbers and arithmetic operations.

Uploaded by

kevin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Bohua Math Olympiad Class

Introduction & Patterns

Kevin Yang & Stevie Chen


August 26, 2018
Credit to: Xiao Zhang and Hannah Zhang
• Math Olympiad
 Math problem solving contests for teams of up to 35 students in grades 4 through 8.
(Division E: 4~6 grades; Division M: 6~8 grades)
 Once every month, November to March, with a total of 5 contests
 5 problems in each contest, no calculator allowed.
 Award for perfect scores, top 2%, top 10%, and top 50% participants.

• Purpose & scope of this class


 Introduce important mathematical concepts and problem solving skills.
 Targeted for 4th-6th graders.

• Difference between Math Olympiads and MathCounts


 Contest structure: MO in school only, MC 4 levels

 Contest format: MO 5 problems/contest, MC Sprint/Target/Team/Countdown rounds

 Problem coverage, difficulty, and time limit


• Teaching Plan
 There will be a lot of different math topics, such as patterns, factors, divisibility, GCF, LCM,
Venn diagrams, basic geometry, etc.
 Each topic will span 1-2 weeks
 Each week: 40~45 min on new materials, 10~15 min reviewing homework
 Each week after class: two documents will be sent to parents by email; one is class notes (the
material taught in class) and the other is homework (5~10 problems)

Note: Everyone needs to work on the problems – I can’t


teach you well if you’re not putting in the effort to learn

• Class rules
 Bring pencil/pen & paper (no calculators, though)
 Do practice problems in class
 Raise your hand and wait to be called on before speaking
 Do the homework every week!
• MO Contests:
• Please fill out info at Google Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Dd2iSnmqy4srTBpEZbMkMgpgMVWvOyrRjIQym-L0FBc/edit#gid=0

• Three options for students:


 Join the Bohua Math Olympiad team: you will do the contest during each of the contest
dates in class and your scores are recorded as a member of Bohua team.
 Join the Math Olympiad team at your regular school: you will do practice problems during
our contest time.
 Take the lesson, but not join any team: you will do the contest during our contest time, but
the score is not recorded.

• Contest dates:
11/25/2018
12/16/2018
1/27/2019
2/24/2019
3/10/2019
Patterns: Arithmetic Sequences
What’s the next value in the sequence:

2, 4, 6, 8, ?  10

An arithmetic sequence is made by adding the same value each time.

Practice: Find the missing values in the following sequences:

(1) 4, 10, 16, 22, ?  28 Common difference = 6

(2) 18, 9, 0, -9, ?  -18 Common difference = -9

(3) -17, -6, ?, 16, 27 5 Common difference = 11


Patterns: Geometric Sequences
What’s the next value in the sequence:

2, 4, 8, 16, ?  32

A geometric sequence is made by multiplying the same value each time.

Practice: Find the missing value of each of the following sequences:

(1) 2, 6, 18, 54, ?  162 Common ratio = 3

(2) -3, 9, -27, 81, ?  -243 Common ratio = -3

(3) 768, 192, ?, 12, 3  48 Common ratio = ¼


Some Special Sequences
What’s the next value in this sequence? 0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ?
This sequence is called square numbers
0 = 02 = 0 ∗ 0  36
1 = 12 = 1 ∗ 1
4 = 22 = 2 ∗ 2
9 = 32 = 3 ∗ 3
and so on and so forth.

What’s the next value in this sequence? 0, 1, 8, 27, 64, ?


This sequence is called cubic numbers  125
0 = 03 = 0 ∗ 0 ∗ 0
1 = 13 = 1 ∗ 1 ∗ 1
8 = 23 = 2 ∗ 2 ∗ 2
27 = 33 = 3 ∗ 3 ∗ 3
and so on and so forth.
More Pattern in Numbers

Practice: Find the missing value of each of the following sequences:

(1) 1, 6, 4, 9, 7, 12, 10, ?  15 Add 5, then subtract 2

(2) 36, 35, 33, 30, 26, ?  21 Vn+1 = Vn – n

(3) 2, 5, 10, 17, 26, ?  37 Quadratic Sequence: n2+1

What is the 10th number in this sequence?

Answer: 101
Pattern in Arithmetic Operations (1)
What’s the value of 87 + 76 + 13 + 24 + 65 + 54 + 35 + 46 + 49 + 38 + 51 + 62?

Strategy: Find the pattern to pair numbers for quick addition

87 + 76 + 13 + 24 + 65 + 54 + 35 + 46 + 49 + 38 + 51 + 62

= 6 x 100 = 600

Practice: Find the sum: 1 + 3 + 5 + … + 37 + 39


Answer: 10 pairs of 40 = 40 x 10 = 400

Practice: What is the value of the sum 1 – 2 + 3 – 4 + … + 2015 - 2016?


1 – 2 + 3 – 4 + … + 2015 - 2016 = 1008 x (-1) = -1008

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