National Math Bee Finals
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There are 3 levels of competition in Math Bee:
- MB1 (Math Bee Level 1): Grades 1 and 2
- MB2 (Math Bee Level 2): Grades 3, 4 and 5
- MB3 (Math Bee Level 3): Grades 6, 7 and 8
- A contestant who participated in a higher-level bee cannot participate in a lower level bee in subsequent years.
- A 1st rank winner at the National Finals is not eligible for competing at the same level in future math bee contests conducted by the NSF. National winners of MB1 and MB2 can participate ONLY in future MB2 and MB3 Math Bee competitions, respectively. National winners of MB3 are not eligible for future Math Bee competitions.
- Contestants are responsible to bring their own pencils and erasers.
- Contestants are seated by the badge number order from left to right.
- Calculators are NOT allowed at any level during Phase I and II.
- All sheets (including question and answer sheets) should be returned at the end of the contest. It is the responsibility of the contestant to write the badge number on the answer sheet.
- Unclear and illegible writing might be open for misinterpretation. Contestants are expected to write clearly and legibly.
- There will NOT be any partial credits for steps. There are NO negative points for any incorrect answer. If the final answer is incorrect, zero points are awarded, and if the answer is correct, one point is given.
- The contest is conducted in two phases for all levels. All contestants participate in both Phase I and Phase II.
- Phase I for all levels is a written test with 25 questions. Each contestant is given a booklet containing 25 questions and has 40 minutes to answer them.
- Each question paper has adequate space to work out the answers. No other sheets are given. Contestants can use the backside of the question paper if more space is needed to work out problems.
- Contestants are required to transfer the answers to the corresponding numbered row in the Student Answer Sheet (last page of the question paper booklet).
- Phase II for Math Bee Level 1 is a written test with 20 multiple choice questions. Each contestant is given a booklet containing 20 questions and has 20 minutes to answer them.
- Contestants are required to transfer the answers to the corresponding numbered row in the Student Answer Sheet (last page of the question paper booklet).
- Phase II for Math Bee Level 2 and 3 are called the lightning round consisting of 20 questions. Questions are projected on to a screen, one by one, and read by a pronouncer in front of the contestants. Once a question is read, contestants have 45 seconds to write down the answer on the Student Answer Sheet.
- Each contestant is given a small booklet. The last page is called Student answer Sheet and the contestant must transfer the answer to this sheet. A couple of scratch sheets are added to the booklet to work out the answer for each question.
- Winners are first determined based on the combined scores of Phase I (25 questions) and II (20 questions). The first-place winner who is ahead by at least one point will be declared as the champion. If there is any tie for the top ten positions, it is broken as per the tie-breaker rules outlined below.
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To break the ties, the scheme outlined below is followed in the order given until the tie is broken or the end is reached:
- Combined Phase I and II score
- Phase I score alone
- Phase I score among questions 21-25
- Phase I score among questions 16-20
- Phase I score among questions 11-15
- Phase I score among questions 1-10
- Phase II score among questions 16-20
- Phase II score among questions 11-15
- Phase II score among questions 1-10
- If the above steps fail to break the tie in question, NSF may use additional measures including grade level and date of birth to resolve the tie.
- We reserve the right to modify the above rules or declare joint winners for a rank in extreme situations.
Phase I (Written for all levels):
Phase II (Written for Math Bee Level 1):
Phase II (Written Lightning Round for Math Bee Level 2 and 3):
Winners and Ranks:
Tiebreaker Rules for Ranks 1-10:
We conduct online coaching and workshops to benefit the students all through the year. In addition, this page contains general resources for preparation for the Math Bee contests. Some sample resources and books are categorized below by level. This is not an endorsement of any commercial product by us. You can search the web for better results and up-to-date links.
Math Bee Level 1 (Grades 1, 2)
- Critical Thinking Skills - Teaching your kid how to think rather than what to think www.criticalthinking.com
- Khan Academy - Online Courses, Lessons and Practice. Look for Arithmetic under Math
- Math Kangaroo www.mathkangaroo.org
- Singapore Math www.singaporemath.com - Look for math books for Primary students
Math Bee Level 2 (Grades 3, 4, 5):
- Khan Academy - Online Courses, Lessons and Practice. Look for Arithmetic, Pre-Algebra and Geometry under Math
- Math League contest books for grades 4 and above www.themathleague.com (contests usually conducted at local schools)
- Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools www.moems.org (student must belong to a school team)
- Singapore Math www.singaporemath.com - Look for grade appropriate books
Math Bee Level 3 (Grades 6, 7, 8):
- MATHCOUNTS - www.mathcounts.org (student must belong to a school team). Contest material for one year (last contest) is usually made available
- Books for advanced middle school students from www.artofproblemsolving.com
- Khan Academy - Online Courses, Lessons and Practice. Look for Arithmetic, Pre-Algebra, Geometry, Pre-calculus, Probability and Statistics under Math
- Math League contest books for grades 6 and above www.themathleague.com (contests usually conducted at local schools)
- Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools www.moems.org (student must belong to a school team)
- Alcumus – AoPS’s Online Learning System - www.artofproblemsolving.com/Alcumus