Mathematical Kangaroo

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Mathematicians in Australia came up with the idea to organize a competition that underlines the joy of mathematics and encourages mathematical problem-solving. A multiple-choice competition was created, which has been taking place in Australia since 1978. At the same time, both in France and all over the world, a widely supported movement emerged towards the popularization of mathematics. The idea of a multiple-choice competition{{cite journal |last1=Dolinar |first1=Gregor |title=Twenty years of Mathematical Kangaroo |journal=European Mathematical Society Newsletter |date=January 2012 |volume=85 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266064725 |accessdate=17 April 2018}} then sprouted from two French teachers, André Deledicq and Jean Pierre Boudine, who visited their Australian colleagues Peter O’Halloran[http://www.amt.edu.au/obitpoh.html Obituary: Peter Joseph O'Halloran (1931-1994) at AMT website] and Peter Taylor and witnessed their competition. In 1990, they decided to start a challenge in France under the name Kangourou des Mathématiques in order to pay tribute to their Australian colleagues. The particularity of this challenge was the desire for massive distribution of documentation, offering a gift to each participant (books, small games, fun objects, scientific and cultural trips). The first Kangaroo challenge took place on May 15, 1991. Since it was immediately very successful, shortly afterward they spread the idea in Europe.

In May 1993, three teams of teachers from Romania, Poland and Bulgaria participated in Kangaroo together with France. After that, Kangourou des Mathématiques invited mathematicians and organizers of mathematical competitions from several European countries. All of them were impressed by the increasing number of participants in the Kangaroo challenge in France: 120 000 in 1991, 300 000 in 1992, half a million in 1993. In seven countries – Belarus, Hungary, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Spain – teams of teachers decided to also organize the contest in 1994. It was a great success in all of these countries. An international competition promoting the dissemination of basic mathematical culture was born.

Since then, the competition has spread around the world. Pupils from Sweden first took part in 1999.{{cite web|title=Vad är Kängurun - Matematikens Hopp?|url=http://ncm.gu.se/node/1525|publisher=National Centre for Mathematics Education, University of Gothenburg|accessdate=23 April 2018|language=Swedish}} By 2011, 860,000 pupils from 9,000 schools took part in Germany, having grown rapidly from 549,000 in 2007.{{cite book |last1=Behrends |first1=Ehrhard |last2=Crato |first2=Nuno |last3=Rodrigues |first3=José Francisco |title=Raising Public Awareness of Mathematics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3aIukYk6ccC&pg=PA45 |year=2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-25710-0 |page=45}} In 2014, the competition was hosted in Latin America.{{cite book |last1=Hector |first1=Rosario |last2=R |first2=Vogeli Bruce |last3=Patrick |first3=Scott |title=Mathematics And Its Teaching In The Southern Americas: With An Introduction By Ubiratan D'ambrosio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQW3CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA400 |year=2014 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4590-58-7 |page=400}} In 2017, the Bulgarian association held a week-long Kangaroo summer camp.{{cite web |title=2017 година |url=http://www.bulgarian-kangaroo.eu/summer-camps_EN.htm |publisher=Association 'European Kangaroo' |accessdate=23 April 2018}} In Canada, math contest clubs for elementary school children teach "questions typical of the Math Kangaroo contest", starting with those with a visual component and helping to develop logic and spatial reasoning.{{cite web |title=Saturday Math Clubs |url=http://mathplus.math.utoronto.ca/home/smc |publisher=University of Toronto |accessdate=23 April 2018}} Students in Pakistan took part for the first time in 2005, the numbers increasing each year since.{{cite web|title=Pakistani students shine in maths contest|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/652148|publisher=Dawn|accessdate=23 April 2018|date=15 August 2011}} In 2009, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that the competition was very popular in Europe, and was "finding its way into the United States".{{cite web|last1=Hajlasz |first1=Piotr|last2=Swigon |first2=David |title=The Next Page: Hop into the math KANGAROO |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2009/03/15/The-Next-Page-Hop-into-the-math-KANGAROO/stories/200903150135|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=23 April 2018|date=15 March 2009}} Denmark first participated in 2015.{{cite web|title=Kaenguruen {{!}} Vinderne af Kænguruen 2018 fundet|url=http://kaenguruen.dk/|publisher=Danmarks Matematiklaererforening|accessdate=23 April 2018}}

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The association Kangourou sans Frontières (Kangaroo without Borders) is an international association founded in France. Its main activity is designing the annual Kangaroo challenge and managing it on an international level. The organization of the competition in the individual countries is up to the members of Kangourou sans Frontières.

In 1994, mathematicians from 10 countries met in Strasbourg (France) and founded the association Kangourou Sans Frontières with statutes registered in Paris on January 17, 1995. From that day on, Kangaroo has continued to grow. The number of members of the association exceeded 75 countries in 2019 and is still increasing. The systematic growth of the association was accompanied by a growing professionalization and digitalization of the association. The president of the association is Meike Akveld (ETH Zurich, Switzerland).

Association Kangourou Sans Frontières organizes meetings each year. The newest meetings are on the top and the oldest are on the bottom.

In all participating countries the challenge is a multiple-choice test. Collecting results, marking, and awarding prizes are regulated and organized nationally. In most countries, the challenge runs for 50 up to 75 minutes.{{cite web|title=Mathematical Kangaroo|url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mathematical_Kangaroo|publisher=AoPS|accessdate=17 April 2018}} It consists of 24 up to 30 problems. The sections for 3 point-, 4 point-, and 5 point-problems are equally divided. There is a penalty for an incorrect answer and no penalty for skipping a question.

Elisabeth Mellroth has investigated the use of mathematical competencies in the Mathematical Kangaroo.Mellroth, Elisabet. [https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01287318/document Problem solving competency and the mathematical kangaroo]. Konrad Krainer;Naďa Vondrová. CERME 9 - Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in MathematicsEducation, Feb 2015, Prague, Czech Republic. pp.1095-1096, Proceedings of the Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education.

• List of mathematics competitions
• International Mathematical Olympiad

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• [https://www.aksf.org/ Kangourou Sans Frontières official site] (AKSF): here you will find a complete list of all members

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Category:Mathematics competitions