Mathematics Problem Solving

Operations & Algebraic Reasoning

Question 1

Hooked on Books

For their fall book reports, Brooke, Carla, Tony, and Nadine each read 4 of the books shown above. Their teacher told them that each book had to be from a different category. Nobody read the same combination of books.

All four students read a mystery, but Brooke and Tony both read the longer mystery. Everyone except Tony read a book from a series. Nadine was the only one to read the longer of the two choices. Tony and Carla read the longest book. Nadine read the biography and the classic that no one else read. Carla did not read a biography. Brooke read the longer historical fiction but the shorter biography. Tony and Carla read the shorter historical-fiction book.

How many pages did each person read?

Question 2

Cookies Crumble

Mrs. Ortiz made a batch of cookies for Carlos, Maria, Tina, and Joe. The children shared the cookies equally and finished them all right away. Then Mrs. Ortiz made another batch of cookies, twice as big as the first. When she took the cookies off the cookie sheet, 6 of them crumbled, so she didn't serve them to the children. She gave the children the rest of the cookies. Just then, Mr. Ortiz came home and ate 2 cookies from the children's tray. Each of the children ate 3 more cookies along with a glass of milk. They were stuffed, so they decided to leave the last 4 cookies on the tray. How many cookies were in the first batch? How many cookies did each of the children eat?

Place Value & Money

Question 1

Bird Toys and Treats

Alex, Joanne, Molly, and Terrence each bought one treat and one toy for their birds. Each person purchased a different treat and toy.

Alex bought the most expensive toy and the least expensive treat. Terrence spent 40 cents more than Alex on a bird treat. Molly spent less on a toy than Terrence did, but more than Joanne. Joanne's treat cost 20 cents more than Molly's treat.

Which items did each person buy, and what is the total amount each spent?

Question 2

Dollar Drive
1

Tamara, Damien, Randy, and Kim want to donate money to a charity. They each brought money to school in an envelope, but forgot to put his or her name on the envelope. Use the clues to see how much money each person brought.

Tamara brought the most money. Damien's envelope has the least money. Randy has the most dimes. Kim has more money than Randy.

How much money did each person bring?

Multiplication of Whole Numbers

Question 1

Mirror Apartments

The diagram above shows the floor plan for the eight apartments on the first floor where Carl and Zo live in separate apartments. Each floor has the same floor plan. There are eight apartments on every floor. The apartments in the building are numbered from 1 to 32. On every floor, each apartment has another apartment whose floor plan is its mirror image. For example, Apartment 8 is the mirror image of Apartment 3. On the second floor, Apartment 9 is directly over Apartment 1, Apartment 10 is directly over Apartment 2, and so forth. Carl lives in apartment 4. Zo lives on the third floor in the apartment that is the mirror image of Carl's apartment. What is Zo's apartment number? Question 2

Fabulous Fruit
Mr. Madison has 14 fruit trees. He has 1 apricot tree and 1 pear tree, and the rest are divided evenly among apple, peach, and plum trees. Last Thursday, Mr. Madison picked 6 apples from each apple tree, 10 plums from each plum tree, 3 peaches from each peach tree, and 4 pears from the pear tree. How many pieces of fruit did he pick last Thursday?

Division of Whole Numbers

Question 1

Craft Fair Sales

The students at the Pickford School Craft Fair are selling necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Harry counted the necklaces and found that there were 6 short of 5 dozen. The students had 30 more rings than necklaces and a dozen fewer bracelets than rings. When packed in boxes holding 6 items per box, how many boxes of each item did they have?

Question 2

Bookshelf Bedlam

Noah and his classmates are sorting the books in their class library. They will put all the picture books together, all the fiction together, all the dictionaries together, and all the biographies together. They estimate that the following will fit on the shelves. Picture books: 93 per shelf Fiction: 63 per shelf Dictionaries: 31 per shelf Biographies: 27 per shelf Here is more information about the books in the library.

There are 54 biographies. There are 7 times as many fiction books as biographies. There are 23 fewer dictionaries than biographies. The number of picture books is 9 times the number of dictionaries.

How many shelves will the students need in all?

Measurement & Graphing

Question 1

Haphazard Heights
Students' Heights 3 feet 11 inches 46 inches 4 feet 8 inches 48 inches 4 feet 2 inches 52 inches Drew, Erin, Jamal, Kendra, Parker, and Sandy have lined up according to height so they can be placed on-stage for the spring concert. The shortest person is at the front of the line.

Drew is behind Kendra. Erin is right behind Parker. Jamal is between Parker and Drew. Sandy is one inch shorter than Kendra. Kendra is second in line.

What is each person's height in feet and inches? In what order are they standing in line?

Question 2

Hoop Stars
Player A 9 10 12 13 11 Player B 14 16 16 13 16 Player C 19 18 16 14 18 Player D 15 17 19 17 17 Player E 13 12 13 12 15

Daniel, Kirk, Michael, Josh, and Roger often play a half-hour-long game of basketball. They keep track of the number of points each player has earned each game. The scores are listed above.

The mean of both Daniel's and Kirk's scores is 17. The median of Michael's scores is 3 less than the median of Josh's scores. The mean of Roger's scores is less than the mean of any other player's scores. There is no mode of Roger's scores. The mode of Daniel's scores is 1 more than the mode of Kirk's scores. There is 1 player whose scores yield 2 modes.

Which scores belong to which player?

Geometry & Measurement

Question 1

Growing a Garden

Bridget, Jessica, Stacey, and Travis are planting flowers in their gardens. Each person has chosen the shape of his or her garden and has chosen a single flower color for the garden.

The area of Bridget's and Jessica's gardens is the same, but the perimeter of Bridget's garden is greater than that of Jessica's. The actual number of feet in the perimeter of Bridget's garden is equal to the number of square feet in Travis's garden. The perimeter of Travis's garden is greater than the perimeter of Stacey's garden. The area of Stacey's garden is less than the area of Jessica's garden.

Which garden belongs to which person? What are the area and perimeter of each person's garden?

Question 2

Map Trap

Angel, Dexter, and Jarvis each took a different route walking home from the school. They made a map to show their routes. Angel's route:

Take the horizontal line on Main Street to the first intersection at Elm, Main, and Smith Streets. Take Elm Street, which forms the side of an acute angle with Main Street. Continue to the second of 2 parallel lines that intersect Elm Street. Turn right. Go to the first house. What is its number?

Dexter's route:

Follow the vertical line, Adams Street, to the first street that is perpendicular to Adams Street. Turn left onto Oak Street. Continue on Oak Street to Chapel Street, which forms an obtuse angle with Oak. Take a right onto Chapel Street. Continue to the third house. What is its number?

Jarvis' route:

Take the horizontal line on Main Street past Smith Street to the street that makes a right angle with Main Street. Turn right onto Washington Street. Take Washington Street to the streets that meet at the vertex of three other streets. Take the street that forms a right angle with Washington Street. Go to the third house. What is its number?

What is the number of the house where each person arrives?

Trace the path for each person and show the route.

Fractions & Decimals

Question 1

Making Muffins

Catrina, Glen, Lisa, Meg, and Wayne made 87 muffins altogether.

Glen made 16 muffins. He put nuts in

of them.

Catrina made 1 less muffin than Glen. One third of them had nuts. Lisa and Meg each made 3 more muffins than Catrina made. Lisa put nuts in Meg put nuts in of her muffins. of her muffins. of his muffins.

Wayne put nuts in

How many muffins in all had nuts?

Question 2

Backpack Weigh-In

Elena, Joe, Owen, Samantha, and Tuck have weighed their backpacks.

Elena's backpack weighs the most. Owen's backpack weighs 0.45 lb less than Joe's backpack. Samantha's lunch weighs 1.5 lb. With that lunch out of the backpack, the backpack weighs 16.55 lb. Tuck's backpack weighs more than Owen's.

How much does each person's backpack weigh?

Probability/ Algebra & Graphing

Question 1

Park and Lock

Spaces in the parking lot are shown as ordered pairs.

The Abbot family parked their blue car in the first row in spot (1,1). The Beekman family parked their red car in the first row, just 4 units to the right of the Abbot's car. The Costa's black car is halfway between the Abbot's car and the Beekman's car but 3 units closer to the store. The Dwigh's brown car is in the same row as the Costa's car, but 2 cars closer to the restaurant.

What are the coordinates for each car's parking space? Put a dot of the correct color at each space.

Question 2

Spinner Survey
1 2 3 4 5

Antoine, Belinda, Craig, Haley, and Thangthip are playing a board game. Since the game involves different color goals for each player, each has chosen a different spinner.

Thangthip has the best chance of getting yellow. Antoine and Haley have the same probability of spinning red. Thangthip and Haley have the same probability of getting green. Of all the players, Belinda has the greatest chance of spinning green.

Which spinner does each person have?