MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE FOR FILIPINO KIDS TRAINING PROGRAM

Level 1 Session 1
1A Act it Out
In the act-it-out strategy children dramatize or simulate a problem situation to help them understand the
problem and crate a plan of action. When the situation is acted out with readily available props, the solution
is often obvious. A new mathematical operation, such as takeaway subtraction, is presented through stories,
as seen here:
Irwin has seven bananas. He gives three bananas to Mary.

73 4
Maria Louisa collected 16 basketball cards. She sold four of her cards to Roy.

16 4 12

Children take turns acting out the story and then talk about the result of the action. After several stories
have been acted out, children can make up their own stories and act them out. The action of takeaway
subtraction is developed in a problem setting, and the solution is represented with objects, through actions,
in pictures, and finally with number sentences. Many informal activities invite students to act out
mathematical situations.
1B

Look for a Pattern

When using the Look for a Pattern strategy, one usually lists several specific instances of a problem and
then looks to see whether a pattern emerges that suggests a solution to the entire problem. For example,
consider the sums produced by adding consecutive odd numbers starting with 1: 1, 1 3 4 2 2 ,
1 3 5 9 3 3 , 1 3 5 7 16 4 4 , 1 3 5 7 9 25 5 5 , and so on. Base on the
pattern generated by these five examples, one might expect that such a sum will always be a perfect square.
Example: How many different downward paths are there from A to B in the grid in the figure below. A path
must travel on the lines.
A

Brain Exercises
1. Noynur has to spend exactly $100 on the following gifts.
$56

$87

$73

A
B
C
Which are the gifts she can buy?

2.

$17
$27

$64

The figure shown is arranged using twelve matchsticks. Rearrange

three of the matchsticks to form three squares of the same size. Draw
the figure in the space.

3.

Jelo bought a rare phonecard for $10.

He sold it to Alliana for $12.
He then bought it back from her for $15 and sold it to Ryan for $20.
How much did Jelo gain or lose form buying and selling this phonecard?

4.

Sammy has four coins that add up to 95 cents in total value.

What are the coins he has?

5.

The figure shows the roads linking X to Y.

Y
X

In the following figures, draw the

different routes that a person can
take to get from X to Y.

Y
X

Y
X

Route 1

Route 2

Y
X

Route 3

Y
X

Route 4

6.

Four stamps are to be torn from the sheet shown.

7.

Four stamps are to be torn from the sheet shown on the right such that they remain as one whole piece.
(Each stamp is joined to the others along one or more of its edges.)
Draw the nine possible ways in which this could be done in the boxes below. One has been done for you.

8.

The figure shows 5 squares formed with matchsticks. Rearrange 2 matchsticks to

form a figure with 4 of the same size. Draw your figure in the space.

9.

An ant is crawling from A to B. It can only crawl along the

lines from the bottom to the top and from left to right. How
many different routes can the ant take?

10. Study the series of figures below carefully.

By looking for a pattern in the series, draw the next figure in the box.

11. There were 6 guppies in an aquarium. The number of guppies doubles every 40 days. Complete the table
below to find the number of guppies in the aquarium after 200 days. (Assume that no guppies were taken
out of the aquarium or died during this period of time.)
Number of days
0
40
80
120
160
200
Number of guppies
0
12

12. Estimate the minimum number of beads hidden under the box.

13. Study the series of figures carefully and then complete the table.

1st

2nd

4 squares

3rd

8 squares

Sequence
Number of squares

4th

12 squares

1st
4

2nd
8

3rd
12

16 squares
4th
16

5th

8th

10th

14. The number of stamps in Setts collection doubles every month. There were 512 stamps in his collection in
August. How many stamps were there in March?
Month
Number of stamps

March

April

May

June

July
256

August
512

15. By looking for a pattern, find the next two numbers in the series below.
15

18

24

33

45

60

16. Siri is saving money to buy a watch that costs $75. She saves $1 in January, $2 in February, $3 in March,
$4 in April, and so on. Complete the table below and find out if she will have saved enough by December
to buy the watch.
Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Total

Amount saved ($)

17. By looking for a pattern, find the next two numbers in the series below.
1

11

16

18. The tables and chairs at a

restaurant are arranged
as shown.

1 table

4 chairs

2 table

6 chairs

3 table

8 chairs

4 table

10 chairs

By looking for a pattern in the arrangements, complete the table below and answer the questions that
follow.
Number of tables

Number of chairs

10

(a)
(b)

10

15

20

If 50 chairs are used, how many tables are there?

If 100 chairs are used, how many tables are there?

19. The following numbers follow a sequence.

7, 9, 12, 17, 19, 22, 27, 29, 32, 37, 39, 42, _____, _____, _____
Find the next 3 numbers in the sequence.
Mind Strainers
20. Joy has 5 coins in her pocket that add up to $1.
What are the coins that Joy has?
Fill in the value of the coins in the circle below.

Set 1:
Set 2:
Set 3:
21. A tourist in Singapore bought a bag that cost $59.
He paid the exact amount with four pieces of dollar notes.
What were the dollar notes he used to pay for the bag?
22. Jake, Tom, Alfred, Ben, Sonny and Klevin met for lunch one day.
They sat around a rectangular table as shown below.
(a) The tailor sat directly opposite Jake.
(b) The clerk sat directly opposite the dentist.
(c) The chef sat next to the tailor.
(d) Klevin sat to the left of Jake.
(e) Tom sat directly opposite Klevin and to the right of Sonny.
(f) Alfred sat nearer to Jake than to Ben.
By acting out the above information, find the occupation and the seating position each man by filling in the
boxes below.
Jake
Sailor

Actor

23. The figure shows the roads linking Town O to Town P. If the motorist intends to drive from Town O to
Town P, how many routes can be choose to take? (The motorist can only drive in the direction from top to
bottom.)
O

24. Study the series of figures carefully and then draw the missing shape in the box.

25. Matchsticks are used to form the series of figures below. Complete the table and then answer the questions
that follow.

Number of squares

Number of triangles

10

Number of
12
19
26
33
matchsticks
(a) How many triangles are there in a figure with 9 squares?
(b) How many matchsticks are there in a figure with 10 squares?
26. 5 school teams took part in a football tournament. Each team played one match against each of the rest.
How many matches were played altogether?
27. A community center is organizing a dart-throwing competition. Altogether, 12 people have registered for
the competition. If each player is to play 1 match against each of the rest, how many matches will be played
altogether?
28. During a club meeting, each member shook hands with the rest of the members once. If 36 handshakes
were exchanged altogether, how many members were present at the meeting?
29. The picture below shows parts of a string of beads hidden behind 2 blocks. Study the pattern and then
estimate the minimum number of beads that are hidden behind each block.

30. A series of figures comprising

hexagons (6-sided figures) is
shown. Study the pattern and
then answer the questions that
follow.
Complete the table below to find the number of dots in
(a) 6 layers of hexagons
(b) 9 layers of hexagons
Number of
layers of hexagons
1
2
3
4
5
6

Number of dots
6
6 7 13
6 7 9 22
6 7 9 11 33

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8
9
Brain Provokers
31. The fowls owned by a farmer were kept in separate rectangular enclosures by fences as shown.
Each enclosure measured 12 m by 6 m.
To support the fences, the farmer used vertical posts that were placed at 3-m intervals.
How many posts did the farmer use altogether?

Chickens

Ducks

Turkeys

Geese

6m

12 m

32. Jonas has four pieces of dollar notes in his pocket. The total amount of the dollar notes is $109.
What are the dollar notes Jonas has?
33. Aries left his house for a drive by taking the following route: Due East, 4 km; South, 2 km; East, 5 km;
1
South, 3 km; West, 9 km; and finally North, 3 km before taking a rest.
2
How far from his house was Aries when he stopped to take a rest?
34. The table below shows the grouping of numbers.
Group

Number

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

In which groups can the following numbers be found?

(a) 99
(b) 841
(c) 1000
35. The series of figures shown below is in sequence. Look for a pattern in the series and then draw the 2nd and
5th figure in the boxes.

36. 32 football teams are taking part in a tournament based on a knockout system. (That is, two teams will play
one match against each other and the winner will proceed to the next round.)
What is the total number of matches that has to be played before a champion is found?
37. At a party, each person shook hands once with everyone. If there were 11 people at the party, how many
handshakes were exchanged altogether?

Prepared by:

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