1

2
PROBLEM SOLVING
• the process of working through details of a
problem to reach a solution
• may include mathematical or systematic
operations and can be a gauge of an
individual's critical thinking skills
(businessdictionary.com).
 3
HEURISTIC
• originates from the Latin word heuristicus,
which is equivalent to
Greek heur (ískein) + Latin (–isticus) –istic
means to find out or to discover.
• Heuristics are a set of rules or strategies
that help us discover the best and most
practical ways to solve problems.
 4
• In solving a problem, there is no single
procedure that works all the time — each
problem is slightly different.
• Also, problem solving requires practical
knowledge about the specific situation.
• If you misunderstand either the problem or
the underlying situation you may make
mistakes or incorrect assumptions.
• One of our main goals in this lesson is to
become better problem solvers.
 5
GEORGE PÓLYA

• (December 13, 1887 – September 7, 1985)

• a Hungarian mathematician
• the father of modern problem solving
 6
POLYA’S FOUR-STEP APPROACH
1.Understand the problem
2.Devise or Make a Plan
3.Carry out the plan
4.Look back
 7
STEP 1:
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
• Read the problem carefully, and list all the details
and data that are involved.
• What are you asked to find?
• Can you restate the problem in your own words?
• Can you think of a situation that might help you
understand the problem?
• Is there enough information to enable you to find a
solution?
• Do you understand all the words used in stating the
problem?
 8
STEP 2:
DEVISE OR MAKE A PLAN
• When you devise a plan, you come up
with a way or strategy to solve the
problem.
• Drawing or making a diagram or chart,
setting up an equation, are the things
that you can do in solving the problem.
 9
STEP 3: SOLVE OR
CARRY OUT THE PLAN
• When you devise a plan, you come up
with a way or strategy to solve the
problem.
• Drawing or making a diagram or chart,
setting up an equation, are the things
that you can do in solving the problem.
 10
STEP 4:
LOOK BACK OR REFLECT
• Check to see if you used all the
information and that the answer makes
sense.
 11
• Mathematics is more than the study of
number and patterns.
• The learning outcome is to develop
one’s logical thinking and ability to
solve complex problems.
• As such, heuristics play a very
important role in mathematical problem
solving, which is fundamental to
mathematics learning.
 12
HEURISTIC STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE USED TO
SOLVE MATH PROBLEMS,
1.Look for a Pattern
2.Use equation/formula
3.Guess-check and revise
4.Draw a diagram / model
5.Make a systematic list
6.Act Out
7.Work backwards
8.Elimination and Logical Thinking
 13
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD
• Find the number of match sticks needed to
form a square, 2 adjacent squares, 3
adjacent squares, 4 adjacent squares, 8
adjacent squares and 𝑛 adjacent squares.
 14
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

• Step 1: Understand the Problem

• What are given in the problem?
• What are you going to find?
• What is the condition?
• Is it possible to satisfy the condition?
• Is the condition sufficient to determine the
unknown?
 15
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• The Heuristic strategy to be used is “Look for a Pattern”.
• When you look for a pattern you observe cases
systematically from particular examples to reach a general
conclusion hence you are employing an inductive
method or mathematical or logical induction.
• So, here you are using your reasoning or critical thinking
to come up with a pattern and then generalization.
 16
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Let us organize your observation in a table and
observe the pattern.
No. of
1 2 3 4 8 n
squares
No. of
4 7 10 13
Matches
 17
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

• Guide Questions:
1. To make 2 adjacent squares, how many matches do you need?
2. How many matches did you add to the 1st square?
3. To make 3 adjacent squares, how many matches do you need?
4. How many matches did you add to the 2 adjacent squares?
5. In Figure 4, to make 4 adjacent squares, how many matches do you
need?
6. How many matches did you add to the 3 adjacent squares to form
Figure 4?
 18
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

7. As the number of squares increases by 1 square, how many

matches did you add?
8. Can you guess the number of matches needed to form 8 adjacent
squares without counting the matches in Figure 5?
9. What is the difference of the number of squares from 1
10. What is the difference of the number of squares from 1 to 8 squares?
11. Every time the number of squares increases by 1, how many
matches is added for every square?
12. What mathematical operation you will use to get the answer for 8
adjacent squares?
 19
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

1 square = 4 matches
2 squares = 4 +3(1) = 7 matches
3 squares = 4 +3(2) = 10 matches
4 squares = 4 +3(3) = 13 matches
8 squares = 4 +3(7) = 25 matches
n squares = 4 +3(n-1) = 4 + 3n− 3 matches = 1 + 3n matches
where n is the number of squares
• Can you give a generalization or statement, on how to find the
number of matches needed to form n adjacent squares?
 20
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

How many matches is needed to form 5 adjacent

squares? Can you sketch or draw? Or if you have match
sticks, show the figure and count the number of
matches.
 21
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD

What is the unit digit in the

1989
expansion of 3 ?
 22
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD
What is the unit digit in the expansion of 31989 ?
Step 1: Understand the Problem
• What are given in the problem? What are you going to find?
Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan
• The Heuristic strategy to be used is again “Look for a Pattern”.
Observe cases systematically in order for you to make a
general statement or conclusion. Same as in Ex.1 you are
also employing an inductive method or logical induction
using your reasoning or critical thinking to come up with a
pattern and then generalization.
 23
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD
What is the unit digit in the expansion of 31989 ?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• We are to find the unit digit in the expansion of 31989 . We
will find the powers of 3 starting from the smallest exponent
and write the unit digit on the 2nd column.
Powers
of 3
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
=1 =3 =9 =27 =81 =243 =729 =2187 =6561
Unit digit
of
Powers 1 3 9 7 1 3 9 7 1
of 3
 24
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD
What is the unit digit in the expansion of 31989 ?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• What have you observed in the unit digit of the powers of 3?
What is the pattern? After how many steps (period) it repeats?
Notice that it is cyclic which means the pattern repeats after
several steps.
• Yes, every 4th steps it repeats, so we can say that the period is
4.
• a) In 38 = 6,561 the exponent is 8, and 30 =1, 34 =81, the
remainder after dividing the exponent by 4 is 0. Notice that unit
digit of 6,561 and 81 is 1.
 25
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD
What is the unit digit in the expansion of 31989 ?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• b) In 37 =2,187, the exponent is 7, the remainder after dividing
the exponent by 4 is 3. 33 = 27, has unit digit that is 7.
• What conclusion can you make about your observations?

• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

• What is the unit digit in the expansion of 31989 ?
 26
USE AN EQUATION
• A rectangular classroom has length that is
1 meter more than 2 times the width. Find
the dimensions if the perimeter is 32
meters.
 27
USE AN EQUATION
A rectangular classroom has length that is 1 meter more than 2
times the width. Find the dimensions if the perimeter is 32 meters.

• Step 1: Understand the Problem

• What are the given in the problem?
• What is asked or required?
• What is the condition?
• Is it possible to satisfy the condition?
• Is the condition sufficient to determine the unknown?
• How do you find the perimeter of a rectangle?
• Can you express the length in terms of width?
 28
USE AN EQUATION
A rectangular classroom has length that is 1 meter more than 2
times the width. Find the dimensions if the perimeter is 32 meters.

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• The Heuristic strategy to be used is “Use
equation/formula”.
• In using an equation or formula, we simply apply the
deductive method/reasoning wherein we apply a
general assumption or principle.
 29
USE AN EQUATION
A rectangular classroom has length that is 1 meter more than 2
times the width. Find the dimensions if the perimeter is 32 meters.

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• P = 2l+2w
Since P = 32; l = 1+ 2w , by substitution
• 32 = 2(1+ 2w) + 2w
• 32 = 2 + 4w + 2w

• 32 =2+6w 32 - 2 = 6w 30 = 6w
• 5 =w
 30
USE AN EQUATION
A rectangular classroom has length that is 1 meter more than 2
times the width. Find the dimensions if the perimeter is 32 meters.

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• If the width is 5m, then the length which is 1 meter more than
2 times the width would have to be 11m
• l = 1+ 2w
• l = 1+ 2(5)
• l = 11
 31
USE AN EQUATION
A rectangular classroom has length that is 1 meter more than 2
times the width. Find the dimensions if the perimeter is 32 meters.

• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

• Final Answer: width (w) = 5 meters, length(l) = 11 meters
• Do the dimensions coincide with the given data?
 32
GUESS, CHECK AND REVISE

• Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his

backyard. The animals have 64 legs
altogether, how many ducks and goats are
there?
 33
GUESS, CHECK AND REVISE
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 1: Understand the Problem
• What are given in the problem?
• What is asked or required?
• What is the condition?
• Is it possible to satisfy the condition?
• Is the condition sufficient to determine the unknown?
• How many animals all in all?
 34
GUESS, CHECK AND REVISE
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• The Heuristic strategy to be used is Guess,
Check & Revise
 35
GUESS, CHECK AND REVISE
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

Ducks Goats Total
Guess No.of No.of No.of No.of No.of No.of or
Heads Legs Heads Legs Heads Legs
1 10 20 10 40 20 60
2 8 16 12 48 20 64

• After checking the 1st guess, analyze and then revise.

 36
GUESS, CHECK AND REVISE
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• After the 1st guess, you need to analyze before the 2nd guess.
• The total number of heads or animals is correct but the total
legs is 4 less than the given which is 64.
• This implies that you need to increase the number of goats
since the goat has 2 more legs than a duck.
• So how many goat(s) will you add? From the 2nd guess, the
number of ducks is 8 and the number of goats is 12.
 37
GUESS, CHECK AND REVISE
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?

• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

• From step 3, does your answer agree with the given data?
 38
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL

• Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his

backyard. The animals have 64 legs
altogether, how many ducks and goats are
there?
 39
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 1: Understand the Problem
• What are given in the problem?
• What is asked or required?
• What is the condition?
• Is it possible to satisfy the condition?
• Is the condition sufficient to determine the unknown?
• How many animals all in all?
 40
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan
• We will use the heuristic “Use a diagram or model” to
answer the problem.
• Let any figure such as a circle to represent the
head/body of the duck or goat.
 41
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Since from the problem it is given that there are 20
animals, so we have to draw 20 circles to represent it.
 42
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Next is to draw the legs, since each animal has at least 2 legs
and count the total legs that you have drawn.

• How many legs have you drawn?

 43
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Legs = 2 (20 heads = 40 legs
• What is the total legs given in the problem?
• Get the difference of the number of legs given in the problem
and the total legs you have drawn.
64−40 =24,
so you need 24 more legs.
 44
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
What is the most number of legs of a duck or goat?

You need to draw 24 more legs, an additional 2 legs for each

diagram that represent a goat.
 45
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• From the diagram you can see that there are a total of 20
heads or animals, and the number of animals with 4 legs is 12,

and 8 animals with 2 legs. So how many ducks and how many
goats are in the backyard?
 46
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
Mr. De la Cruz has 20 ducks and goats on his backyard. The animals
have 64 legs altogether, how many ducks and goats are there?
• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect
• Is you answer correct?
• Total ducks = 8, total goats = 12,
• All in all, there are 20 animals.
• Total legs of ducks 8(2) =16, total legs of goats 12(4) = 48
• All in all there are 16+48 = 64 legs.
 47
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL

• A frog is at the bottom of a ten feet well. Each

day it crawls 2 feet and loses its grip and
slides back down a foot. If it continues this
maneuver, in how many days will it reach the
top end of the well?
 48
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
A frog is at the bottom of a ten feet well. Each day it crawls 2 feet and loses
its grip and slides back down a foot. If it continues this maneuver, in how
many days will it reach the top end of the well?
• Step 1: Understand the Problem
• What are given in the problem?
• What is asked or required?
• How deep is the well?
• How fast can the frog crawl upward?
• How fast the frog slides back?
 49
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
A frog is at the bottom of a ten feet well. Each day it crawls 2 feet and loses
its grip and slides back down a foot. If it continues this maneuver, in how
many days will it reach the top end of the well?
• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan
• We will use the heuristic “Use a diagram” to answer the
problem.
 50
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
A frog is at the bottom of a ten feet well. Each day it crawls 2 feet and loses
its grip and slides back down a foot. If it continues this maneuver, in how
many days will it reach the top end of the well?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Since the problem gives that the well is 10 feet, let us draw a
vertical line scaled by 1 foot.
Length in (feet) Day
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
 51
DRAW A DIAGRAM/MODEL
A frog is at the bottom of a ten feet well. Each day it crawls 2 feet and loses
its grip and slides back down a foot. If it continues this maneuver, in how
many days will it reach the top end of the well?
• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect
• The answer is 9 days.
 52
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/
ORGANIZED LIST

• The houses on Narra Street are numbered

consecutively from 1 to 60. How many house
numbers contain at least one digit 5?
 53
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/
ORGANIZED LIST
The houses on Narra Street are numbered consecutively
from 1 to 60. How many house numbers contain at least
one digit 5?

• Step 1: Understand the Problem

• What is asked in the problem?
• What are given in the problem?
• How many houses are there?
• What are the conditions?
 54
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/
ORGANIZED LIST
The houses on Narra Street are numbered consecutively
from 1 to 60. How many house numbers contain at least
one digit 5?

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• To answer the problem we will use the heuristic “make
a systematic list and tree diagram”.
 55
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/
ORGANIZED LIST
The houses on Narra Street are numbered consecutively
from 1 to 60. How many house numbers contain at least
one digit 5?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Since it is given in the problem that we are to find the
number of houses with at least one digit 5, so we list
down the number starting from 5:
• 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59

• so there are 15 houses.

 56
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/
ORGANIZED LIST
The houses on Narra Street are numbered consecutively
from 1 to 60. How many house numbers contain at least
one digit 5?

• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

• Try to check by counting mentally if your answer is
correct.
 57
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA

• Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white

(WS), and red (RS). She has 4 blouses, color
blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different
ways can she match her outfits?
 58
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?

• Step 1: Understand the Problem

• What is asked in the problem?
• What are given in the problem?
• How many skirts Annie has?
• How many blouses Annie has?
• Are the colors the same?
 59
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• We will use again the heuristic “make a systematic list,
the use of tree diagram and formula”.
 60
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Systematic/Organized Listing.
Skirt Blouse Outfit Outfit Outfit

BS BB BS, BB WS, BB RS, BB

WS YB BS, YB WS, YB RS, YB
RS WB BS, WB WS, WB RS, WB
CB BS, CB WS, CB RS, CB

• How many outfits Annie has?

 61
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Use of a Tree Diagram

• Annie has a total of 12 outfits.

 62
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?
• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve
• Use of a Formula
• Fundamental Counting Principle/Multiplication Principle: If
activity 1 can be performed in n1 ways, activity 2 can be
performed in n2 ways, then the two operations can be
performed together in n1n2 ways.
n1 = 3 different color of skirts
n2 = 4 different color of blouses
 63
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Use of a Formula
• Solution: Total outfits = n1n2
= 3(4)
=12
• Annie has a total of 12 outfits.
 64
MAKE A SYSTEMATIC/ ORGANIZED
LIST, TREE DIAGRAM & FORMULA
Annie has 3 skirts, color brown (BS), white (WS), and red (RS).
She has 4 blouses, color blue (BB), yellow (YB), white (WB), and
checkered blouse (CB), How many different ways can she match
her outfits?

• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

• Try to check by counting mentally if your answer is
correct. .
 65
ACT OUT & USE OF DIAGRAM

On the first day of school, Ann, a transferee in her

school is excited to meet new friends. When she gets
inside the room there are 3 classmates (Berna, Claire,
Doll), so they each shakes hand with every other once
and only once. What is the total number of
handshakes?
 66
ACT OUT & USE OF DIAGRAM
On the first day of school, Ann, a transferee in her school is excited to meet new
friends. When she gets inside the room there are 3 classmates (Berna, Claire,
Doll), so they each shakes hand with every other once and only once. What is
the total number of handshakes?

Step 1: Understand the Problem

• How many are in the classroom?
• How many times each of them will shake hand with each
other?
Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan
• We will find the total number of handshakes by acting out the
situation.
 67
ACT OUT & USE OF DIAGRAM
On the first day of school, Ann, a transferee in her school is excited to meet new
friends. When she gets inside the room there are 3 classmates (Berna, Claire,
Doll), so they each shakes hand with every other once and only once. What is
the total number of handshakes?

Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• I need 4 volunteers to represent the 4 girls in the problem.
Some of you will count the number of handshakes while the
4 volunteers are acting out the problem.
 68
ACT OUT & USE OF DIAGRAM
On the first day of school, Ann, a transferee in her school is excited to meet new
friends. When she gets inside the room there are 3 classmates (Berna, Claire,
Doll), so they each shakes hand with every other once and only once. What is
the total number of handshakes?

Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

Observe the arrows that represent the handshakes.
1. Ann shakes hand with Berna, Claire, and Doll, how many
handshake(s) did she make? Yes, 3 handshakes.
2. Berna shakes hand with Claire, and Doll, (since Ann had
already shook hand with Berna so no need for Berna to shake
hand with Ann) How many handshake(s) did Berna make? There
are 2 handshakes. Do you agree?
 69
ACT OUT & USE OF DIAGRAM
On the first day of school, Ann, a transferee in her school is excited to meet new
friends. When she gets inside the room there are 3 classmates (Berna, Claire,
Doll), so they each shakes hand with every other once and only once. What is
the total number of handshakes?

Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

3. The last person to shake hand is Claire, Claire shake hand
with Doll. How many handshake(s) did she make? Yes, one
handshake only.
• Finally, count the total number of handshakes made by the 4
girls.
 70
LOOK FOR A PATTERN &
INDUCTIVE METHOD
• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect
• Is the total handshakes (6) correct? Can you
determine the handshakes by using other heuristic
strategies such as draw a diagram or formula?
 71
WORK BACKWARDS
1
• Lenny has some kisses chocolates. She gave
3
of the chocolates and 3 more to her brother Jim.
1
She then gave of the remaining chocolates
5
and 4 more to her younger sister Amy. In the
end, she has 16 chocolates left. How many
chocolates did Lenny has at the beginning?
 72
WORK BACKWARDS
1
• Lenny has some kisses chocolates. She gave of the chocolates and 3 more
3
1
to her brother Jim. She then gave of the remaining chocolates and 4 more
5
to her younger sister Amy. In the end, she has 16 chocolates left. How many
chocolates did Lenny has at the beginning?
• Step 1: Understand the Problem
• What is asked in the problem? What are given in the problem?
• How many chocolates Lenny has? What are the conditions?

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• To answer the problem we will use the heuristic “Work Backwards”
 73
WORK BACKWARDS
1
• Lenny has some kisses chocolates. She gave of the chocolates and 3 more
3
1
to her brother Jim. She then gave of the remaining chocolates and 4 more
5
to her younger sister Amy. In the end, she has 16 chocolates left. How many
chocolates did Lenny has at the beginning?

• Step 3:
• We are to find the chocolates Lenny has at the beginning then
work backward from the last given data.
 74a
WORK BACKWARDS
1
• Lenny has some kisses chocolates. She gave of the chocolates and 3 more
3
1
to her brother Jim. She then gave of the remaining chocolates and 4 more
5
to her younger sister Amy. In the end, she has 16 chocolates left. How many
chocolates did Lenny has at the beginning?
1. 16 + 4 = 20, 20 is 4/5 of the remaining choc 20

2. If 4/5 is 20, then 1/5 is 5. 5 5 5 5 5

3. 20+5 = 25 is the number of the remaining chocolates

4. 3 +25 = 28, number of the remaining chocolates and 3 more
5. 28 is 2/3 of the remaining chocolates 28
6. If 2/3 is 28, then 1/3 is 14 14 14 14
7. 14(3) = 42 is the number of kisses chocolates Lenny has at the beginning
 74b
WORK BACKWARDS
1
• Lenny has some kisses chocolates. She gave of the chocolates and 3 more
3
1
to her brother Jim. She then gave of the remaining chocolates and 4 more
5
to her younger sister Amy. In the end, she has 16 chocolates left. How many
chocolates did Lenny has at the beginning?
1. 16 + 4 = 20 20

2. 5/5 – 1/5 = 4/5, 20 is 4/5 of remaining chocolates 5 5 5 5 5

3. 20 is 4/5 of what no.? 20(5/4) = 20(5)/4 = 25

4. 25 + 3 = 28
5. 3/3 – 1/3 = 2/3, 28 is 2/3 of the remaining chocolates 28
6. 28 is 2/3 of what no.? 28(3/2) = 28(3)/2 = 42 14 14 14
Lenny has 42 chocolates at the beginning
 75
WORK BACKWARDS
1
• Lenny has some kisses chocolates. She gave of the chocolates and 3 more
3
1
to her brother Jim. She then gave of the remaining chocolates and 4 more
5
to her younger sister Amy. In the end, she has 16 chocolates left. How many
chocolates did Lenny has at the beginning?
• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect
• Lenny has 42 chocolates at the beginning.
• She gave 1/3 of the chocolates and 3 more to her brother Jim. 1/3 of 42 is 14.
14+3 = 17, She gave 17 chocolates to Jim.
• 42 – 17 = 25, She has 25 remaining chocolates.
• She then gave 1/5 of the remaining chocolates and 4 more to her younger sister
Amy. 1/5 of 25 is 5, 5+4 = 9, She gave 9 chocolates to Amy.
• 25 – 9 = 16. She has 16 chocolates left.
 76
WORK BACKWARDS
• Kathy walked from ISAT U to St. Clements
church. It took her 19 minutes to walk from ISAT
U to corner Hechanova-Magdalo Street and rest
for 15 minutes to buy a bottled water in a nearby
store and walk another 12 min until St. Clements
church. She reached St. Clements church at
5:24 p.m., at what time did she left ISAT U?
 77
WORK BACKWARDS
Kathy walked from ISAT U to St. Clements church. It took her 19 minutes to walk
from ISAT U to corner Hechanova-Magdalo Street and rest for 15 minutes to buy a
bottled water in a nearby store and walk another 12 min until St. Clements church.
She reached St. Clements church at 5:24 p.m., at what time did she left ISAT U?
• Step 1: Understand the Problem
• What is asked in the problem? What are given in the problem?
• How many stop-over Kathy had before she reached St. Clements
church?
• What time did she leave ISAT U? What time did she arrive at St.
Clements church?
• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan
• To answer the problem we will use the heuristic “Work Backwards”.
 78
WORK BACKWARDS
Kathy walked from ISAT U to St. Clements church. It took her 19 minutes to walk
from ISAT U to corner Hechanova-Magdalo Street and rest for 15 minutes to buy a
bottled water in a nearby store and walk another 12 min until St. Clements church.
She reached St. Clements church at 5:24 p.m., at what time did she left ISAT U?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Since we are ask of the time Kathy left ISAT U, we work backward
from the last given data.
Activity backwards Period of time Time
Kathy reached St. Clements church 5:24 P.M.
St. Clements church to the store 12 min 5:24 – 12 min = 5:12 P.M.
Rest 15 min 5:12 -15 min = 4:57 P.M.
corner Hechanova-Magdalo Street 19 min 4:57 – 19 min = 4:38 P.M.
to ISAT U
 79
WORK BACKWARDS
Kathy walked from ISAT U to St. Clements church. It took her 19 minutes to walk
from ISAT U to corner Hechanova-Magdalo Street and rest for 15 minutes to buy a
bottled water in a nearby store and walk another 12 min until St. Clements church.
She reached St. Clements church at 5:24 p.m., at what time did she left ISAT U?
• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect
• Check your answer by starting at your answer until the time Kathy
reached the St. Clements church.
• 4:38 P.M. --- time she left ISAT U.
• + 19 min ---- from ISAT U to corner Hechanova-Magdalo Street
• + 15 min --- rest
• + 12 min --- from the store to St. Clements church
• 4 hours & 84 min = 5:24 P.M.,
• therefore the answer 4:38 P.M. is correct
 80
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
• David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a
mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently
had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who has
which job?
 81
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 1: Understand the Problem

• What are given in the problem?
• How many persons are there? What are the conditions?

• Step 2: Devise or Make a Plan

• To answer the problem we will use the heuristic “Elimination
and Logical Thinking”.
 82
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Let us use a chart or table as shown below in order for us to
show systematically the given condition.

Dancer Mechanic Singer

David
Mike
Sam
 83
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• None has a job that starts with the same letter as his name. We
will place x to indicate it is not the job of the given person. So
from the 1st condition, David is not the dancer, Mike is not the
mechanic and Sam is not the singer.
Dancer Mechanic Singer
David
Mike
Sam
 84
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic.
• Therefore, David is not the mechanic.

Dancer Mechanic Singer

David
Mike
Sam
 85
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Looking at the chart in the 2nd row, and thru elimination we
can determine that David is the Singer, put a check on the
last column where David’s name appear.

Dancer Mechanic Singer

David
Mike
Sam
 86
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Look at the last column, since David is the Singer and by
logical reasoning we conclude that Mike and Sam can no
longer be the singer, so we put an x to the remaining uncheck
box on the last column.
Dancer Mechanic Singer
David
Mike
Sam
 87
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• In the 3rd row, through elimination process, we can put a
check on the column dancer, and conclude that Mike is the
Dancer and therefore Sam is not the dancer.

Dancer Mechanic Singer

David
Mike
Sam
 88
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 3: Carry Out the Plan or Solve

• Lastly, the only box left, you can see that Sam is the
mechanic.

Dancer Mechanic Singer

David
Mike
Sam
 89
ELIMINATION & LOGICAL
THINKING
David, Mike, and Sam could be a dancer, a mechanic, or a singer. None has a job that starts
with the same letter as his name. David recently had his car repaired by the mechanic. Who
has which job?

• Step 4: Look Back or Reflect

• Try to check the answer if it met the given condition.
• David is the singer. Mike is the dancer. Sam is the mechanic.

Dancer Mechanic Singer

David
Mike
Sam
 90
ACTIVITY
1. Lenny has a total of 7 cats and parrots. The animals have 20
legs altogether. How many cats are there? How many parrots
are there?
2. A student needs at least a 95% average to receive a grade of A.
On the first three tests the student averaged 92%. What is the
minimum a student must get for an average on the last two tests
to receive a grade of A?
3. Annie walked from ISAT U to Gaisano City. It took her 18 min to
walk from ISAT U to La Paz market and rested for 15 minutes to
eat ice cream and walk another 13 min from La Paz market to
Gaisano City. She reached Gaisano City at 5:22 pm. At what
time did she leave ISAT U?
 91
ACTIVITY
4. When a number is multiplied by 15, then the result is added by
15, the answer is 240. What is the number?
5. Lorie’s Birthday party was attended by 25 persons. If each
person shook hands with each of the others exactly once, then
how many handshakes took place?
6. A box of candy bars can be divided equally (without cutting
anything) among 2, 3, or 7 people. What is the least number of
candy bars the box could contain?
7. Dave’s Auto Center has a number of bikes and tricycles for
sale. There are 27 vehicles and 60 wheels altogether. How
many bikes are there and how many tricycles are there?
 92
ACTIVITY
8. A snail is at the bottom of a 7 feet wall. Each hour it crawls 2
feet and loses its grip and slides back down a foot. If it
continues this maneuver, in how many hours will it reach the
top end of the wall?
9. A mathematics test consists of ten items. Three points are
given for each correct answer and one point are deducted for
each wrong answer. If Vance did all questions and scored 18,
how many correct answers did he have?
10. A frog is at the bottom of a 10 ft. well. Each hour it jumps up 3
ft. but then loses his “grip” and slides back down two ft. If he
continues this maneuver, in how many hours will the frog be
out of the well?
 93
ACTIVITY
11. The lengths of three rods are 6 cm, 9cm, and 11cm. How can
you use those rods to measure a length of 14 cm?
12. Observe the pattern of the number of dots per round. If the
pattern continues, how many dots are after the 7th round? 12th
round?
#Round 1 2 3 4 5 7 12
Number
of Dots 1 3 6 10 15

13. How can you use four rods that measure 2 cm, 5cm, 7cm, and
9 cm to measure a length of 1 cm?
 94
ACTIVITY
14. A snail crawls 50 cm up a wall during each day, but each night
slides back 40 cm. How long will it take the snail to reach the
top of the wall if it is 200 cm high?
15. The triangular grid has 30 units on each side. It contains 9
small triangles. How many small triangles are in a triangular
grid with 20 units on each side?

16. Dane arranged loaves of bread on 6 shelves in bakery. She put

1 loaf on the top shelf, 3 loaves on the second shelf, and 5
loaves in the third shelf. If she continues this pattern, how
many loaves did Dane put on the 6th shelf?
 95
ACTIVITY
17. Pete raises chickens, he sold 2 chickens the first month, 5
chickens the second month, 8 chickens the third month, and so
on. If this pattern continues, how many chickens did he sell on
the sixth month?
18. Jack bought 24 pencils. Some cost P5 each, some cost P7
each. How many of each kind did he buy if he paid P136 for the
pencils?
19. If you save P3 on Monday. Each day after, you save twice as
much as you saved the day before. If this pattern continues,
how much would you have saved on Friday?
 96
ACTIVITY
20. Three apples and two pears cost Php78. But two apples and
three pears cost Php82. What is the total cost of one apple and
one pear?
21. How many different 4-digit even numbers can you write using
all the digits 4, 5, 7, and 0 if repetition of digits is not allowed?
22. Three darts hit this dart board and each scores a 1, 5, or 10.
The total score is the sum of the score of the three darts. There
could be three 1’s, two 1’s and 5, one 5 and two 10’s, and so
on. How many different possible total scores could a person
get with three darts?
 97
ACTIVITY
23. Four friends had a race. Ben finished 7 seconds ahead of Mat.
Bren finished three seconds behind Sam. Mat finished five
seconds behind Bren. In what order did the friends finish the
race?
24. In a stock car race, the first five finishers in some order were a
Ford, Toyota, a Chevrolet, a Mitsubishi, and a Honda.
• The Ford finished seven seconds before the Chevrolet.
• The Toyota finished six seconds after the Mitsubishi.
• The Honda finished eight seconds after the Mitsubishi.
• The Chevrolet finished two seconds before the Toyota.
In what order did the cars finish the race?
 98
ACTIVITY
 Choose only 1 problem.
 Name the heuristic strategy that you used. Indicate the slide
no.& item no. on your solution. No need to show the Polya’s 4-
step approach since most of it can be done mentally. Just
indicate the heuristic strategy used & the complete solution.
 Write your final answer in statement form answering the
question of the problem.
 Your answers will vary.
 There are instances that some of you may have chosen the
same problem but still the heuristic strategy you have used must
vary.