Classroom

Abstract

In this section of Resonance, we invite readers to pose questions likely to be raised in a classroom situation. We may suggest strategies for dealing with them, or invite responses, or both. "Classroom" is equally a forum for raising broader issues and sharing personal experiences and viewpoints on matters related to teaching and learning science.

I have been asked several times, by teachers, students and friends, how I create math problems, specifically the ones that appear in olympiads. For me, olympiad problems are a byproduct of my explorations of mathematics. In this write-up I will explain this with a particular example. We will start with a simple problem and create many more problems of different flavours and levels.