Grade Five Competition from the Leningrad Mathematical Olympiad: 1979-1992 - Hardcover

by Kseniya Garaschuk (Author), Andy Liu (Author)

This unique book presents mathematical competition problems primarily aimed at upper elementary school students, but are challenging for students at any age. These problems are drawn from the complete papers of the legendary Leningrad Mathematical Olympiads that were presented to the city's Grade Five students. The period covered is between 1979 - the earliest year for which relevant records could be retrieved - and 1992, when the former Soviet Union was dissolved.

The respective chapters reflect the famous four-step approach to problem solving developed by the great Hungarian mathematics educator Gyorgy Pólya. In Chapter One, the Grade Five Competition problems from the Leningrad Mathematical Olympiads from 1979 to 1992 are presented in chronological order. In Chapter Two, the 83 problems are loosely divided into 26 sets of three or four related problems, and an example is provided for each one. Chapter Three provides full solutions to all problems, while Chapter Four offers generalizations of the problems.
This book can be used by any mathematically advanced student at the upper elementary school level. Teachers and organizers of outreach activities such as mathematical circles will also find this book useful. But the primary value of the book lies in the problems themselves, which were crafted by experts; therefore, anyone interested in problem solving will find this book a welcome addition to their library.

Back Jacket

This unique book presents mathematical competition problems primarily aimed at upper elementary school students, but are challenging for students at any age. These problems are drawn from the complete papers of the legendary Leningrad Mathematical Olympiads that were presented to the city's Grade Five students. The period covered is between 1979 - the earliest year for which relevant records could be retrieved - and 1992, when the former Soviet Union was dissolved.

The respective chapters reflect the famous four-step approach to problem solving developed by the great Hungarian mathematics educator Gyorgy Pólya. In Chapter One, the Grade Five Competition problems from the Leningrad Mathematical Olympiads from 1979 to 1992 are presented in chronological order. In Chapter Two, the 83 problems are loosely divided into 26 sets of three or four related problems, and an example is provided for each one. Chapter Three provides full solutions to all problems, while Chapter Four offers generalizations of the problems.
This book can be used by any mathematically advanced student at the upper elementary school level. Teachers and organizers of outreach activities such as mathematical circles will also find this book useful. But the primary value of the book lies in the problems themselves, which were crafted by experts; therefore, anyone interested in problem solving will find this book a welcome addition to their library.

Author Biography

Kseniya M. Garaschuk is originally from Belarus. She received her PhD in Combinatorics from the University of Victoria in 2014 and her Master's degree from Simon Fraser University, both in British Columbia, Canada. Kseniya then pursued a Post Doctoral Fellowship in Mathematics Education at the University of British Columbia. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, Canada. Kseniya is the Editor-in-Chief of Crux Mathematicorum, a problem-solving journal published by the Canadian Mathematical Society.
Andy Liu is an Emeritus Professor at the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where he obtained his Master's degree in Number Theory in 1972, his PhD in Combinatorics in 1976, and a Professional Diploma in Elementary Education in the same year. His initial appointment was in 1980 and he retired in 2013. He was actively involved in mathematics competitions at all levels, including the International Mathematical Olympiad and the International Mathematics Tournament of the Towns. He also ran a mathematics circle for schoolchildren from 1981 to 2012, before handing it over to his successors. His informal interests include literature and history, mechanical puzzles and simulation board games.