A maths test in New Zealand is causing a lot of controversy because many students felt it was too hard. The story is getting huge coverage in New Zealand and even in some British and American news outlets. In this video I share one of “impossible” questions and explain how I would solve it. I’m curious if you think this is too difficult for 15 year old students.
*I expedited production of this video to be timely and ultimately got a foot stuck in my mouth! Around 4:10 I should have said “1 metre.” Plus I said “1 feet” which anyway should have been “1 foot.”
Update 6 April 2018: They uploaded an exemplar answer script 2017 – Excellence. See the file available at:
I did a video about the kite problem from the exam:
My blog post for this video:
Sources
Question 2b from NZQT 2017 level 1 test
New Zealand Herald. “How good is your maths? The questions that drove 15-year-olds to tears”
BBC blogs. “NZ minister orders probe into ‘impossible’ maths exam”
The Mirror. “Try to solve the fiendishly difficult maths question that made pupils cry during an exam”
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My Books
“The Joy of Game Theory” shows how you can use math to out-think your competition. (rated 3.8/5 stars on 31 reviews)
“The Irrationality Illusion: How To Make Smart Decisions And Overcome Bias” is a handbook that explains the many ways we are biased about decision-making and offers techniques to make smart decisions. (rated 5/5 stars on 2 reviews)
“Math Puzzles Volume 1” features classic brain teasers and riddles with complete solutions for problems in counting, geometry, probability, and game theory. Volume 1 is rated 4.4/5 stars on 13 reviews.
“Math Puzzles Volume 2” is a sequel book with more great problems. (rated 5/5 stars on 3 reviews)
“Math Puzzles Volume 3” is the third in the series. (rated 3.8/5 stars on 4 reviews)
“40 Paradoxes in Logic, Probability, and Game Theory” contains thought-provoking and counter-intuitive results. (rated 4.3/5 stars on 12 reviews)
“The Best Mental Math Tricks” teaches how you can look like a math genius by solving problems in your head (rated 4.7/5 stars on 4 reviews)
“Multiply Numbers By Drawing Lines” This book is a reference guide for my video that has over 1 million views on a geometric method to multiply numbers. (rated 5/5 stars on 3 reviews)
