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Module 3 Problem Solving With Strategies

Polya's four steps to problem solving include understanding the problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and looking back to reflect on the solution. Various strategies such as making organized lists, drawing diagrams, working backwards, and guessing and checking can be employed depending on the problem's nature. The choice of strategy should be flexible, as a combination of approaches may be necessary for effective problem solving.

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9 views9 pages

Module 3 Problem Solving With Strategies

Polya's four steps to problem solving include understanding the problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and looking back to reflect on the solution. Various strategies such as making organized lists, drawing diagrams, working backwards, and guessing and checking can be employed depending on the problem's nature. The choice of strategy should be flexible, as a combination of approaches may be necessary for effective problem solving.

Uploaded by

quadcrusher06
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Polya’s 4 steps to Problem Solving

1. Understanding the problem


• Grasp the problem's context, identify known and unknown elements, and
understand their relationships.
2. Devising a plan
• Create a strategy for solving the problem, breaking it down into smaller,
manageable parts if necessary.
3. Carrying out the plan
• Execute the strategy, applying various problem-solving techniques and adjusting
as needed.
4. Looking back
• Reflect on the solution, considering its validity, exploring alternative approaches,
and learning from the process for future problems.
Problem Solving Strategies
• Make an organized list
• Work backwards
• Draw a diagram
• Look for a pattern
• Guess and check
• Write an equation

✓Note: The choice of strategy depends on the nature of the problem, personal
preference, and the problem solver's familiarity with different techniques.
Often, a combination of strategies might be necessary, and it's essential to be
flexible and willing to switch approaches if one doesn't yield results.
Problem Solving Strategies
• Make an organized list
❑involves systematically listing out all possible options or outcomes
❑useful when dealing with problems that have a finite number of solutions, such as
counting problems or combinatorial problems.

Example:
1. In how many ways can two girls and two boys be seated in a row of chairs?
2. In how many ways can a student answer a five-item true-or-false quiz if the student
answers three out of the questions with “true” and the other two with “false”?
Problem Solving Strategies
• Draw a diagram
❑visualize the problem by drawing a diagram or a visual representation
❑a diagram can be a rough sketch, a tree diagram, a Venn diagram, etc.
❑helpful for problems involving spatial relationships, geometric shapes, or
processes with multiple components.

Example:
1. If twenty people greet each other at a meeting by shaking hands with one another,
how many handshakes will take place?
2. At the Keep in Shape Club, 35 people swim, 24 play tennis, and 27 jog. Of these
people, 12 swim and play tennis, 19 play tennis and jog, and 13 jog and swim. Nine
people do all three activities. How many members are there altogether?
Problem Solving Strategies
• Draw a diagram
❑visualize the problem by drawing a diagram or a visual representation
❑a diagram can be a rough sketch, a tree diagram, a Venn diagram, etc.
❑helpful for problems involving spatial relationships, geometric shapes, or
processes with multiple components.

Example:
3. Among 40 Girl Scouts in one troop at Camp Osmena, 14 fell into the lake, 13 came
down with poison ivy, and 16 were lost on the orientation hike. Three girls had
poison ivy and fell into the lake. Five girls fell into the lake and got lost. Eight came
down with poison ivy and were also lost. Two girls experienced all three mishaps.
How many of the Girl Scouts in this troop escaped with none of these mishaps?
Problem Solving Strategies
• Guess and check
❑make educated guesses and test them to see if they lead to a solution
❑useful when other strategies are not immediately applicable or when the problem
allows for trial and error
❑use this only when there is a limited number of possible answers for testing

Example:
1. The product of the ages (in years) of the three teenagers is 4590. None of the teens
are the same age. What are the ages of the teenagers?
2. A 156-page textbook is opened at random. To what pages is it opened if the product
of the facing page numbers is 5256?
Problem Solving Strategies
• Work backwards
❑starts with the final solution and works back one step at a time to get to the
beginning
❑effective when the problem involves a sequence of events or when the final
outcome is known but the path to it is unclear.
Example:
1. Dave visited the games-of-chance at the Cebu Fair for three consecutive days. On
the first day, he doubled his money and spent Php500. On the second day, he tripled
his money and spent Php850. On the third day, he quadrupled his money and spent
Php1600. He found that he had Php37,000 when he left the fair. How much money
did Dave start with?
2. In consecutive turns of a Monopoly game, Stacy first paid $800 for a hotel. She then
lost half of her money when she landed on Boardwalk. Next, she collected $200 for
passing GO. She then lost half of her remaining money when she landed Illinois
Avenue. Stacy now has $2500. How much did she have just before she purchased
the hotel?
Problem Solving Strategies
• Write an equation
❑translates the problem into mathematical terms and formulate an equation or set
of equations to represent it
❑appropriate for problems involving quantities, rates, proportions, or relationships
that can be described mathematically

Example:
1. A pair of socks and a pair of jeans together cost ₱1,000. The jeans costs ₱700 more
than the socks. How much do the socks and jeans cost?
2. The sum of four consecutive numbers is 70. What are these numbers?
Problem Solving Strategies
• Look for a pattern
❑Involves finding a pattern to identify a relationship between numbers
❑This relationship can help to solve the problem by shortening the number of
steps it takes to get to a solution

Example:
1. Determine the units (ones) digit of 29999 .
2. Determine the digit 100 places to the right of the decimal point in the decimal
4
representation of .
27

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