Webinars SET A - Grade 3-4 - Sunday@3:15-4:15pm EST-Recording Webinar 6

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In this sixth Math Kangaroo webinar for grades 3-4, Dr. Sarah Segee and assistant Abhinav Bhattacharyya focus on the strategy of guessing and checking to solve math problems. Dr. Segee introduces the method as a logical approach rather than random guessing, emphasizing making informed guesses, checking results, and revising accordingly. The session begins with a warm-up problem involving covered digits in a sum, illustrating how reasoning narrows possibilities. <br /><br />A game called "Guess My Animal" demonstrates how yes/no questions can help refine guesses. Multiple problems follow, featuring polls where students guess answers anonymously. Problems address topics such as balancing shaded squares, maximizing sums by placing digits, and finding values of fruits given combined prices. Dr. Segee and Abhinav guide students through problem-solving steps: describing known information, forming hypotheses, testing guesses, and eliminating infeasible answers.<br /><br />They highlight using arithmetic properties, observing patterns, and simplifying complex statements for clarity. Notably, guessing and checking is recommended when other direct methods are challenging or when choices can be quickly eliminated. The duo also solve puzzles involving sums of neighboring numbers and arrangements meeting specified conditions. They demonstrate alternative approaches like adding combined totals or testing answer choices to find consistent solutions.<br /><br />Throughout, students are encouraged to participate, ask questions, and appreciate that mistakes help learning. The webinar concludes with a bonus problem requiring logical number placement respecting inequality arrows. The hosts emphasize that problem-solving strategies overlap and can be combined effectively. The session aims to build thoughtful problem-solving habits suitable for Math Kangaroo contests and nurture mathematical thinking in young learners.

Keywords

Math Kangaroo

guessing and checking

problem-solving strategies

grades 3-4 math

logical reasoning

arithmetic properties

pattern recognition

mathematical thinking

interactive learning

math contests