S OLVE

Sharon Shapiro

THAT PRO BLE M !

Skills and strategies for practical problem solving

LE
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M IMA
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40
photocopiable
pages!
 © Blake Education 2000
Reprinted 2002, 2004, 2007

ISBN 978 1 86509 766 4

Solve That Problem!

Blake Education
Locked Bag 2022
Glebe NSW 2037
www.blake.com.au

Publisher: Sharon Dalgleish

Senior Editor:Tricia Dearborn
Designed by Trish Hayes
Illustrated by Stephen King
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C o n t e n t s
Contents

Introduction:The Problem Solving Process 4

Drawing a Diagram 5

Drawing a Table 19

Acting it Out or Using Concrete Material 33

Guessing and Checking 47

Creating an Organised List 61

Looking for a Pattern 75

3
Problem Solving
Some possible strategies include:
THE PROBLEM ❖ Drawing a sketch, graph or table.
SOLVING PROCESS ❖ Acting out situations, or using concrete
It is important that students follow a logical and materials.
systematic approach to their problem solving. Following ❖ Organising a list.
these four steps will enable students to tackle ❖ Identifying a pattern and extending it.
problems in a structured and meaningful way. ❖ Guessing and checking.
❖ Working backwards.
STEP 1: UNDERSTANDING ❖ Using simpler numbers to solve the problem,
THE PROBLEM then applying the same methodology to the
❖ Encourage students to read the problem real problem.
carefully a number of times until they fully ❖ Writing a number sentence.
understand what is wanted.They may need to ❖ Using logic and clues.
discuss the problem with someone else or ❖ Breaking the problem into smaller parts.
rewrite it in their own words.
❖ Students should ask internal questions such as,
what is the problem asking me to do, what
STEP 3: SOLVING THE PROBLEM
information is relevant and necessary for solving ❖ Students should write down their ideas as they
the problem? work so they don’t forget how they approached
❖ They should underline any unfamiliar words and the problem.
find out their meanings. ❖ Their approach should be systematic.
❖ They should select the information they know ❖ If stuck, students should reread the problem
and decide what is unknown or needs to be and rethink their strategies.
discovered.They should see if there is any ❖ Students should be given the opportunity to
unnecessary information. orally demonstrate or explain how they reached
❖ A sketch of the problem often helps their an answer.
understanding.

STEP 2: STUDENTS SHOULD

STEP 4: REFLECT
DECIDE ON A STRATEGY OR PLAN ❖ Students should consider if their answer makes
sense and if it has answered what was asked.
Students should decide how they will solve the
❖ Students should draw and write down their
problem by thinking about the different strategies
thinking processes, estimations and approach, as
that could be used.They could try to make
this gives them time to reflect on their
predictions, or guesses, about the problem. Often
these guesses result in generalisations which help practices.When they have an answer they
to solve problems. Students should be discouraged should explain the process to someone else.
from making wild guesses but they should be ❖ Students should ask themselves ‘what if’ to link
encouraged to take risks.They should always think this problem to another.This will take their
in terms of how this problem relates to other exploration to a deeper level and encourage
problems that they have solved.They should keep their use of logical thought processes.
a record of the strategies they have tried so that ❖ Students should consider if it is possible to do
they don’t repeat them. the problem in a simpler way.

4
Teaching Notes Drawing a Table
When a problem contains information that has For example:There are 18 animals at the farm.
more than one characteristic, an effective strategy Some are chickens and others are cows. Seventy
is to set out that information in a table. A table legs are visible. How many of each type of animal
helps to organise the information so that it can be can be seen?
easily understood and so that relationships
between one set of numbers and another become
clear. A table makes it easy to see what
information is there, and what information is
missing.When a table is drawn up, the information
often shows a pattern, or part of a solution, which
can then be completed. Students will usually have
to create some of the information in order to
complete the table and so solve the problem. Students will need to draw up a table that has
Using a table can help reduce the possibilty of three columns.
mistakes or repetitions.
Frequently teachers will need to assist students Number Number Number
to decide how to classify and divide up the of chickens of cows of legs
information in the problem and then how to
construct an appropriate table.Teachers should
give advice on how many rows and columns are LEAVINGGAPS IN TABLES AND
needed and what headings to use in the table. COMPLETING PATTERNS MENTALLY
Symbols and abbreviations are also helpful in
making tables clearer and students should be Often when a table is drawn up a pattern becomes
encourged to use them where possible. obvious.The student may be able to leave out
Certain skills and understandings should be some of the data, (that is, leave a gap in the table)
reinforced before students begin to work with and by following the pattern, calculate mentally
this strategy. until the required number, or amount, is reached.
For example, two people are being compared in
this problem: Mrs Shappy is 32 years old and her
daughter Lisa is eight years old. How old will Lisa
be when she is half as old as her mother?

A two column table is drawn.

Lisa Mrs Shappy
8 32
DECIDING ON THE NUMBER OF 9 33
COLUMNS TO FIT THE VARIABLES
10 34
When drawing up a table, the first very important 11 35
step is for students to read the problem carefully
and establish how many variables are to be 12 36
included in the table.This is a skill that student 13 37
should be encouraged to develop. First they should
decide how many factors are involved in each
problem and then discuss whether the factor 24 48
requires a column or row. Students should be clear
about what the table is going to tell them. Headings By leaving gaps and calculating mentally we
for columns and rows are also important because established that when Lisa is 24 years old her
they indicate the exact contents of the table. mother will be 48 years old.

20
Teaching Notes Drawing a Table
DRAWING TABLES TO HELP FOLLOWING PATTERNS
CALCULATE MULTIPLES Tables can be used to establish many different
OF NUMBERS types of patterns.The information presented in the
When calculating multiples of numbers a pattern problem can be listed in the table and then
quickly emerges. Once again, it may be necessary examined to see if there is a pattern.
only to complete certain steps to establish the For example: A child is playing a game of
pattern and by following the pattern to reach the basketball by himself in the park.Then, at regular
required number. intervals, other groups of students begin to arrive
For example: Research shows three out of ten at the park. From each new group, two children
people are blond. How many blonds will be found decide to join the basketball game.The first group
in 1000 people? has three children, the second group has five
children and the third group has seven children.
Number How many groups will have appeared by the time
Blond of people there are 64 people in the park?
3 10 Three columns are needed for the table.The
30 100 columns should be headed groups, people and total.
300 1 000
Groups People Total
This second example shows how a pattern can be 1 1
established when calculating a cumulative total. 1 3 4
Five out of 12 students in the school are boys. 2 5 9
If there are 768 children how many are girls? 3 7 16

Girls Boys Total 4 9 25

7 5 12 5 11 36

14 10 24 6 13 49

28 20 48 7 15 64

56 40 96 Seven groups will have appeared.

112 80 192
224 160 384
448 320 768

448 of the 768 students are girls.

21
Teaching Examples Drawing a Table
EXAMPLE 1 Reflecting and generalising
A group of students are learning a long poem to Once the table has been drawn up a pattern is
perform at the school concert. Each week they are easy to see. A student who has gained confidence
taught a certain number of verses.The first week may leave part of the table empty and simply
they are taught one verse and by the end of the complete the pattern mentally. Students should be
second week they know three verses. At the end encouraged develop the skill of looking for
of the third week the students can recite six patterns and completing them.
verses and at the end of the fourth week they
know ten. How many verses would they be able to Extension
recite after 12 weeks? The problem can be extended by including revision
weeks at regular intervals, when no new verses are
Understanding the problem learnt. How will this affect the result?
WHAT DO WE KNOW?
In the first week students are taught one verse.
At the end of the second week they know three.
At the end of the third week they know six.
By the end of the fourth week they know ten.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO FIND OUT?

Questioning: How many verses did they know at
the end of 12 weeks?
Is there a pattern that will help with the
completion of the chart?

Planning and communicating

a solution
Students should draw up a table consisting of two
rows and 13 columns or two columns and 13 rows.
The first row should list the week numbers (1–12)
and the second row should list the number of
verses. Once the known data has been inserted a
pattern will emerge and the number of verses can
be calculated. ( The pattern here is +1, +2, +3. . . . .)

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
No. of 1 3 6 10 15 21 28 36 45 55 66 78
verses

The students would be able to recite 78 verses

after 12 weeks.

22
Teaching Examples Drawing a Table
EXAMPLE 2
We are running a fund raising concert in our
school hall.The first member of the audience
comes in on her own, then a group of three
friends come in together. Each time a group of
people arrives there are two more than in the
previous group. How many people will arrive in the
twentieth group?

Understanding the problem

WHAT DO WE KNOW?
The first person is on her own.
Then three people come in.
Each time the group increases by two.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO FIND OUT?

Questioning: How big is each subsequent group? Reflecting and generalising
How many people are in the twentieth group?
By following the pattern it is easy to calculate how
Planning and communicating many people are in the twentieth group. A more
a solution confident student would be able to leave part of
the middle section of the table incomplete as they
Draw up a table consisting of two rows and 21 see the pattern that is emerging.
columns (or two columns and 21 rows.) Write the
heading of the first row as ‘audience groups’ and
the second ‘numbers’.The audience groups are
Extension
numbered to 20 and the numbers increase in odd The problem can be extended by varying the size
numbers starting from one. of the groups or including more groups.

Audience
groups 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Numbers 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39

There will be 39 people in the twentieth group.

23
Teaching Examples Drawing a Table
EXAMPLE 3 Planning and communicating
a solution
How many different ways can you change a $1
coin into 50c, 20c and 10c coins? Start by using only 50c coins and work through
the possible combinations which make $1, then
Understanding the problem include those in the table.
Then look at all possible combinations of
WHAT DO WE KNOW? 50c + 20c + 10c.
We have a $1 coin. Leave out 50c and look at combinations of
We can change it into 50c, 20c and 10c coins. 20c and 10c.
Finally, see how many 10c coins are needed
WHAT DO WE NEED TO FIND OUT? to make up $1.
Questioning: How many different ways can you
make $1 out of 50c, 20c and 10c coins? By setting out all the combinations in a table we
made sure that none were missed or repeated.

50c 20c 10c

2
1 2 1
1 1 3
1 5
5
4 2
3 4
2 6
1 8
10

There were ten different ways to make up $1 out

of 50c, 20c and 10c coins.

Reflecting and generalising

Our approach to the problem was logical and
systematic and ensured that we found all
combinations of the coins.

Extension
Ask students to use a similar strategy to change
$2 coins into $1, 50c, 20c and 10c coins. How
many different combinations would there be?

24
BLM Drawing a Table
★ Understanding the problem
List what you know

★ What do you need to find out?

Questioning: What questions do you have? What are you uncertain about? Is
there any unfamiliar or unclear language? What you are being asked to do?

★ Planning and
communicating a solution
How many variables are there?
How many columns will be needed in
the table? What would be suitable
headings? Can symbols or images
be used? Can gaps be left in the
table once a pattern is
established?

★ Reflecting and generalising ★ Extension

How accurate is the answer? How can this How can this problem be
strategy be applied to other situations? extended? What factors
Could a more effective method have been can be added as part of a
used? What technology was useful? ‘what if’ question?

© Blake Education—Solve That Problem! Middle Primary. 25

This page may be reproduced by the original purchaser for non-commercial classroom use.
 PROBLEM SOLVING TASK CARDS - Drawing a Table
Level
Problem 1 Number 1 23 1
Susan and Marilyn both go the
gym each week. Susan goes every
three days but Marilyn goes
every fourth day. If they both
attend on Monday when will they
next be at a class together?

Level
Problem 2 Number 1 23 1
There were 18 people seated
on the roller coaster ride.
For every two seats there
was one empty. How many
empty seats were there?

Level
Problem 3 Number 1 23 1
Arlene has a holiday job
picking apples. Her employer is
happy to pay her one cent for
the first tree she picks, two
cents for the second, four
cents for the third and eight
cents for the fourth. How
much will she receive for the
eighth tree she picks and how
much will she earn altogether
for the eight trees?

26 © Blake Education—Solve That Problem! Middle Primary.

This page may be reproduced by the original purchaser for non-commercial classroom use.
This book contains the following units:

Drawing a Diagram
Drawing a Table
Acting It Out or Using Concrete Material Each unit contains
Guessing and Checking • teaching notes
Creating an Organised List • teaching examples
• blackline master
Looking for a Pattern
• task cards for students.

Solve That Problem! Also available:

Skills and strategies for practical problem solving Solve That Problem!
Each unit in this book introduces a new Upper Primary
problem-solving skill, following a structured
sequence. Teaching notes on the specific
skill the unit covers are followed by
teaching examples that enable
the easy introduction of these skills
to students. The blackline master
provided sets out a sequence for
students to work through when
implementing the new skill.
Task cards give students
the opportunity to put
the new skill to use on
problems of increasing
complexity.

ISBN 978-1-86509-766-4

9 781865 097664