After each question is answered correctly, the participant's status is raised up to the next level. After they correctly answer 15 questions without a mistake, they will make it to a million.
Questions cover a variety of problems you may find appropriate for this age group, including identifying numbers in a sequence, working with temperature or time, and perimeter or area problems.
One strategy is to have students work in pairs, thus allowing them to talk through the solution. It becomes vital that students check and verify their work, otherwise it is too often they make it part way up before starting over from the bottom.
A great motivational tool to get students to practice. One boy told his teacher "I'm going home to practice so I can come to school and show you I can make a million". Imagine that, no homework yet they go home to practice math.
