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
