Maths Explorer Years 3 & 4

The Maths Explorer is a new addition to the APSMO Pathway of Achievement and is suitable for students in Years 3 and 4. Unlike the Maths Games program and the Maths Olympiad competition, it encourages students to work in pairs or small groups and overall results are not compared to other schools. It is primarily designed to build students’ confidence and lay the foundations of effective problem solving to prepare students for participation in the Maths Games and/or Maths Olympiad in later years.

No. The Maths Explorer is an introduction to problem solving and is suitable for all students in Years 3 and 4.

Students work in pairs or small groups of three when completing the Maths Explorer papers. This collaborative approach is particularly beneficial in identifying various possible ways to solve a problem, and in reducing potential anxiety in individual students. The teacher in charge marks the paper and records the score against each student’s name when submitting results.

APSMO provides a Resource Kit for teachers prior to each Maths Explorer paper. Each Resource Kit contains sample questions based around a specific theme that will appeal to younger students. The kits focus on individual problem solving strategies, as well as step-by-step solutions to assist teachers when preparing their students.

We recommend that at least 30 minutes to an hour per week is spent practising problem solving. With the Maths Explorer we also encourage teachers to adapt problem solving strategies for use around the school in outdoor activities or with hands-on, practical activities.

All registered students will receive a Certificate of Achievement for presentation at the end of the year.

Special awards are also provided to each team for presentation to deserving students at the teacher’s discretion.

If a student transfers to another school that is participating in the Maths Explorer, his/her results can be transferred to the new school’s team.

Written notification containing details of the student and both schools’ teams must be provided to APSMO in order for the transfer to take place.

The standard cost to register one team of up to 30 students in the Maths Explorer is $ 160 per team.
An Early Bird discount rate of $ 140 per team is available for registrations received before the end of the previous year.