Math Kangaroo competition champions minds and numbers

Elementary school students get ready to participate in the Math Kangaroo competition March 21 in UTC’s Grote Hall. Photo by Peyton Schultz.

For the first time since the pre-COVID days, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus was hopping with Math Kangaroo participants.

On Thursday, March 21, over 100 students—from first graders to high school seniors—came to UTC’s Grote Hall to participate in Math Kangaroo, an international mathematics competition.

Established in the 1980s in Australia—hence the kangaroo reference—Math Kangaroo aims to encourage mathematical reasoning and problem-solving techniques in a fun and engaging way. Students were presented with multiple-choice questions to test their mathematical abilities, emphasizing logical reasoning, creative thinking and problem-solving skills rather than advanced mathematical knowledge and memorization of formulas.

More than 43,000 students registered to participate in this year’s U.S. competition. According to Math Kangaroo, more than 80 countries administer the test—with 6 million students participating worldwide.

Participants competed against others in their respective age groups during the 75-minute competition. Students in grades 1-4 had 24 questions to answer; grades 5 and up had 30 questions. No calculators or smartphones were allowed during the test. Pencils and scratch paper were provided, and students were allowed to bring their own pencils and erasers.

Dr. Tatiana Allen is the manager of the UTC Math Kangaroo Center and—beginning this year—serves as the Math Kangaroo director for the state of Tennessee.

“This is a wonderful competition,” said Allen, a UC Foundation professor of physics. “These problems are not plug-and-chug problems; they are thinking problems. You can win prizes. You can participate in higher competitions. And, of course, it goes very nicely on a resume—so it’s a great opportunity.”

Allen has been involved in Math Kangaroo since 2015 “when my child was young” after learning about it from global friends because it’s an international Olympiad. She hosted several competitions at UTC before COVID forced Math Kangaroo online in 2020. She said it was nice to have the event in person and on UTC’s campus again.

The return of the in-person event brought students to UTC “from Knoxville, from Nashville, from all over Tennessee,” Allen said. “My goal is to increase the number of centers in the state, giving more participation opportunities to the students.”

UTC is one of four Math Kangaroo centers in Tennessee. In comparison, California has 275 centers, and many other states offer dozens of centers. There is another public center in the Memphis metropolitan area and two private centers in Collierville and Lenoir City—where only students from the hosting school can participate.

“This is also a wonderful opportunity to promote the Department of Chemistry and Physics. Today’s event was put together by our Society of Physics Students,” said Allen of the student-led physics organization that recently won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office. “They were folding T-shirts and packaging gifts for participants. They have been setting up and working registration. They have been terrific.

“And so many of our professors here have been very open to helping. Nine professors are volunteering as proctors, so I have had huge support. I couldn’t do this without all the help I’m getting.”

After the test, the completed answer cards were scanned and sent to Math Kangaroo for scoring. In recent years, Allen said, the UTC center has had numerous state winners and five national winners. This year’s results will be announced in May.

Sample questions and related practice material can be found on the Math Kangaroo website.

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Think you’re smarter than a fifth- or sixth-grader?

Here is a sample four-point Math Kangaroo 2023 question:

Maria, Peter, Richard and Tina were playing football in the classroom and one of them broke a window. When the principal asked who did it, she got the following responses: Maria: “It was Peter.” Peter: “It was Richard.” Richard: “It wasn’t me.” Tina: “It wasn’t me.” Only one child was telling the truth. Who broke the window?

(A) Maria (B) Tina (C) Peter (D) Richard (E) It can’t be determined with certainty

The answer can be found below the photo gallery.