Each year in May approximately 1200 Burnaby elementary students in grade 7 (or lower) enter the national Grade 7 Gauss mathematics contest created by the University of Waterloo.
At the same time, Burnaby students in grade 6 (or lower) participate in the Mirzakhani Mathematics Contest and those in grade 5 (or lower) participate in the Abel Mathematics Contest, both created by the Burnaby School District.
The Gauss is a paper copy test delivered to the schools**UNFORTUNATELY, THE GAUSS IS CANCELLED IN 2020.
The Abel and Mirzakhani **WILL BE RUN ON-LINE IN 2020 IN THE WEEK OF MAY 18. DETAILS FORTHCOMING FROM GR 5 and 6 teachers.
All 3 tests are marked by the teachers.
Past Abel and Gauss contests are available at the following pages:
Mirzakhani Abel Gauss
For both contests, students may use rulers, compasses and paper for rough work.
Calculators are allowed, with the following restriction: students may not use a device that has internet access, that can communicate with other devices, or that contains previously stored information. For example, students may not use a smartphone or a tablet.
Abel:
- 1 hour time limit
- 25 multiple-choice questions (each with 4 possible answers marked A, B, C or D but only one of these is correct)
- Scoring: Each question is worth one mark. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer
Mirzakhani:
- 1 hour time limit
- 25 multiple-choice questions (each with 4 possible answers marked A, B, C or D but only one of these is correct)
- Scoring: Each question is worth one mark. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer
Gauss:
- 1 hour time limit
- 25 multiple-choice questions (each with 5 possible answers marked A, B, C, D, and E but only one of these is correct)
- Scoring: Each correct answer is worth 5 marks in Part A, 6 in Part B, and 8 in Part C. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer. Each unanswered question is worth 2, to a maximum of 10 unanswered questions. Highest possible score is 150 marks.