Space Challenge is a quick 5-minute math fact fluency assessment that tests a student's mastery of each operation.
When a student uses Space Challenge, they are presented with a full series of math facts (excluding facts with 0) in a chosen operation and shown in the horizontal format.
Students have up to 7 seconds to answer it correctly. Facts answered within 3 seconds are considered "mastered", facts that take longer than 3 seconds are considered "hesitated". If the student doesn't answer the fact correctly in time, it is considered "missed".
After the assessment is complete, the student is given a score and can view the details of their report.
Space Challenge is best suited for grades 3 to adult.
While you can use it with lower grades, your students may have a harder time using it. For younger grades, we recommend starting with Countdown.
When we first launched Space Challenge, it was a free assessment that was limited in reporting and function. Since it's launch, we have made a number of upgrades and expanded it's reporting functions. It is now bundled with Blast Off and Countdown, our math fact practice tools. Since this change, Space Challenge is no longer free.
Space Challenge was intended to merely assess a student's math fact fluency, while Blast Off and Countdown are designed to help students learn and practice the math facts. We have bundled them together, as together they form a complete math fact fluency solution. You can learn more about our bundled solution here.
Your students can create their own accounts or login through the student portal found at PlayBlastOff.com. This is the new home for Space Challenge.
Students often make the mistake of signing up on mathfactsmatter.com which will not give them access to the products and will take them to the teacher side of the program. So please, make sure your students understand they need to go through the student portal.
To run Space Challenge all you need is a good internet connection and a modern web browser that is uptodate. There are no special downloads or system requirements beyond that. You can access and use Space Challenge from a computer, tablet, or phone.
For accessing the reports, we highly recommend accessing the reports from a computer so that they are easier to read, print, and export.