Caribou Help / FAQ
Please look for your question among the >200 questions in our FAQ before emailing us. Caribou aims to be 100% self-service. This helps keep our services affordable.
To use this Help Tree, choose the appropriate category and subcategories. If you are unable to find your question, use the Contact Us form located in the leaves of this tree. Thank you for your help.
Help Tree → For Parents / Students → Contest Questions & Solutions → General Information about Contest Questions
Questions & Answers:
What types of questions are in the contests?
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What types of questions are in the contests?
Answer:
When we create contest questions, we try to have a variety of questions and we focus on testing logical reasoning and the ability to apply what is learned in math class rather than pure mathematical knowledge.
Question content is tailored to each level (K/1, 2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12) and favours the lower grade level within a level—that is, the lower grade level in each level should be able to answer all the questions for that contest level. We base this on mathematics curricula and feedback from our proofreaders (teachers).
The questions for one contest level vary widely in difficulty because students vary widely in ability. We want everyone, from the students weakest in math to those who are very gifted, to be able to participate in Caribou Contests. So the 9/10 contest level may contain questions that even a grade 8 student could answer. In general these easy questions are worth 3 points whereas the harder ones are worth 4 or 5 points.
In addition to word problems on geometry, patterns, logic, algebra, counting, arithmetic, and so on, Caribou Contests also includes interactive questions in each contest, and usually a History question as well. We announce these two weeks ahead of time to give students the chance to practice the interactive game on our Games page and to read the appropriate section of our History page.
How hard are the questions?
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How hard are the questions?
Answer:
See the above item, What types of questions are in the contests?.
Do students need to study for the contests?
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Do students need to study for the contests?
Answer:
No, students do not need to study, but preparing is definitely recommended. In particular, students will be more successful at the interactive and history questions if they are. If you’re looking for ideas for how to prepare for an upcoming contest, check out the item How can students prepare for the contests?.
How can students prepare for the contests?
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How can students prepare for the contests?
Answer:
There are many ways students can prepare for upcoming math contests. Here are only a few:- join or form a math club at their school
- watch our videos on YouTube or Dailymotion
- try a past contest on our website (previous October contest and solutions are free, others are available for purchase)
- practice the games on our Games page in preparation for interactive questions
- read the ‘Food for Thought’ section of certain games to learn strategies for these games
- read up on our History page to prepare for History questions
- read up on a site where you can also take practice tests
Does Caribou provide the solutions to the contest questions?
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Does Caribou provide the solutions to the contest questions?
Answer:
When the contest results are announced, students can log in to see their score and which questions they answered correctly or incorrectly by viewing their results for an individual contest.
While we have now written solutions for all of our contests in English and French, we are gradually adding in translations in other languages for past contests.
The written solutions for the previous year’s October contest are free to access. In the menu, select Prepare > Previous Tests > View Written Solutions and select the solutions you would like to see.
Access to other previous tests and their solutions are available for purchase and affordable. Check them out in our Online Shop. It is possible to purchase individual years of solutions or to get access to all of them with the All-Inclusive packages.
I think there was a mistake in one of the questions.
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I think there was a mistake in one of the questions.
Answer:
We do rarely make mistakes in questions or their translations. Please consider purchasing solutions for the current year in our Online Shop. After carefully reading the question and solution, if you think there is a mistake please use the Contact Us form. From there we will verify the mistake and take action to ensure fairness in marking if necessary.
Why is there overlap in questions between levels?
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Why is there overlap in questions between levels?
Answer:
Sometimes Caribou Contests puts a question from the 7/8 contest in the 9/10 contest. Here are some reasons why:- Students must be able to complete 15 questions in 50 minutes, so some of the questions need to be relatively easy. Longer than 50 minutes would not be feasible for many logistically. Fewer than 15 questions would make it possible to have a high ranking by guesswork alone.
- There is great variation in student ability and so there needs to be great variation in question difficulty. If you look at Contest Results you can see, for example, that the low grade questions are two difficult for 50% of the students in a higher grade. Caribou Contests is a math competition for students of all abilities, not just the most gifted in math.
- It means fewer questions for Caribou Contests to create, verify, and translate, making it possible to have 6 contests per year for 5 different levels, and even more eventually. The frequency of contests has changed many students’ lives, pushing them to form math clubs in many schools around the world.
Can you send me the solution to one of the questions?
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Can you send me the solution to one of the questions?
Answer:
For such purposes we prepare written solutions, sometimes more than one for one question, which are very inexpensive. You can purchase solutions for the current year through our Online Shop
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