Opening Prayer

Our Loving Father, we praise and glorify Your name each day. We thank you
for all especially the gift of life You showered us. Thank you for giving us the
opportunity to learn in this time of global pandemic. Bless our classmates ,
teachers , and school that we may bring hope to our community. We humbly ask
for Your forgiveness to all our shortcomings and help us to be a better person.
Grant us wisdom, peace of mind, and a pure heart to be a blessings to other
people. Father, we are grateful that You are true to Your word that You are with us
and will not leave us. May You continue to bless us with your grace and love. We
ask all these through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, forever and ever.
Amen
 • Module 10: Problem Solving

The picture on the right is George

Polya, born in Hungary in 1887.
He finished his Doctor of Philosophy
degree at the University of Budapest,
but he was a professor at Stanford
University in the United States.
He was known as the Father of
Modern Problem Solving.
Polya died in 1985 at the age of 98.
 Polya's Four-step Process for Solving Problems
STEP 1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
✓ Do you understand all the words?
✓ Can you restate the problem in your own words?
✓ Do you know what is given?
✓ Is there enough information?
✓ Is there extraneous information?
✓ Is this problem similar to another problem you have solved?
 STEP 2. DEVISE A PLAN

✓ Find the connection between the data and the unknown.

✓ Choose the strategy that you can use to solve the problem.

The list of strategies are as follow:

• Guess and check • Look for a pattern

• Make an orderly list • Draw a picture

• Eliminate possibilities • Solve a simpler problem

• Use symmetry • Use a model

• Consider special cases • Work backward
• Use direct reasoning • Use a formula -Where to get the formula?
• Solve an equation 4x + 5 = 9x
5 = 9x – 4x
5= 5x
 STEP 3. CARRY OUT THE PLAN

✓ Implement the strategy or strategies that you have chosen until the problem is solved.
✓ Give yourself a reasonable amount of time in which to solve the problem.
✓ Do not be afraid of starting over.

STEP 4. LOOK BACK

✓ Is your solution correct?

✓ Does your answer satisfy the statement of the problem?

✓ Can you see an easier solution?
Example to show you how Polya's 4-step in solving problems is applied.

In a blueprint of a rectangular room, the length is 1 inch more than three times the width. Find the
dimensions of the room if its perimeter is 26 inches.
Solution:
Step 1. Understand the problem.
✓ Read the problem carefully and understand all the words.
✓ Let the length be represented by l and the width by w.
✓ In the problem, the length is 1 inch more than three times the width.
Therefore, we can now let 𝑙 = 1 + 3𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤 = 𝑤
 20

15 15
20
Perimeter = 2( 15) +2 ( 20)
70 = 2l + 2w
Step 2. Devise a plan. (Translate into a workable equation.)
The perimeter of the room is 26 inches.
Recall that the formula in finding the perimeter of a rectangle is 𝑃 = 2𝑙 + 2𝑤 𝑜𝑟 𝑃 = 2(𝑙 + 𝑤).
Substituting 𝒍 and 𝒘 in the formula for perimeter, the result is 2(1 + 3𝑤 + 𝑤) = 26.
Step 3. Carry out the plan. (Solve.)

Adding similar terms 2(1 + 4𝑤) = 26

DPMA 2 + 8𝑤 = 26
8w = 26-2 8w = 24 w = 3in
Additive Inverse Multiplicative Inverse 8𝑤/8 = 24/2
Step 4. Look back. (Check and inter
𝑤 = 3 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 2(10) + 2(3) = 26
20 + 6 = 26
𝑙 = 1 + 3(3)
26 = 26
=1+9
Problem Solving Strategies
1. Draw a Picture/Diagram/Act It Out
To make a diagram, you must
read the problem carefully for you to be
able to include the given information into
it. From this, you can now work out the
solution.

This strategy is appropriate to use

when
❖ A physical situation is involved,
❖ Geometric figures or measurements
are involved, and
❖ A visual representation of the
problem is possible.
Example
A worm is trying to escape from a well that is 10-ft deep. The worm climbs 2 feet per
day, but each night it slides back 1 foot. How many days will the worm take to climb
out of the well?
Solution:
Draw a diagram to allow you to track the worm's day to day position.

The worm reaches 10 ft. and climbs out of the well on the ninth day.
2. Guess and Check or Guess and Test
When you use this strategy, you will
make a reasonable guess based on the
given information and then check to see if
your guess is correct. The guesses should
get closer and closer to the answer until you
find the right answer.
The Guess and Test strategy may be
appropriate when:
❖ There is a limited number of possible answers to
try.
❖ You have a good idea of what the answer is.
❖ You can systematically try possible answers.
❖ There is no obvious strategy to try
 Example
The sum of 2 consecutive odd numbers is 44. What are the two numbers?
Solution: Guess and check
Before guessing, always make sure you understand the problem.
Sum: refer to adding numbers
Consecutive: In the context of this problem, it will mean that we are looking for an odd number and
the next odd number that immediately follows the first one.
Guessing here means that you will pick two odd numbers, add them, and see if it is equal to 44.
15 + 17 = 32. It does not work. Since 32 is smaller than 44, pick higher numbers.
19 + 21 = 40. Getting closer
21 + 23 = 44. There we have it! We found the two numbers by guessing.
Try this!
Two numbers have a difference of five, and their product is 924. What is the sum of the numbers?
3. Use a table or make a list
Using a table or making a list is a good way to sort out
and organize the information given in the question. The
information that has been set out in the table will hopefully
lead you to the correct solution. Once you can see all of
the possibilities for the solution, you can then
attempt to solve the problem more quickly.
This strategy is appropriate to use when:
❖ Information can easily be organized and presented,
❖ Data can easily be generated,
❖ Listing the results obtained by using Guess and Test,
and
❖ Asked "in how many ways" something can be done.
 Example
Each triangle in the figure below has 3 dots. Study the pattern and find the number of
dots for 7 layers of triangles.

Solution:
The number of dots for 7 layers of triangles is 36.

Layers Pattern Total dots

1 3 3
2 3+3 6
3 3+3+4 10
4 3+3+4+5 15
5 3+3+4+5+6 21
6 3+3+4+5+6+7 28
7 3+3+4+5+6+7+8 36

Try this: In how many ways can Albert, Tyrone, Cris, and Dave stand in a row? List their positions.
4. Logical Reasoning
This strategy requires you to
use the information you have been
given in the question to find
relationships in them. From there,
you can form your answer.
 Example
Shuttle Worth sold 51 jars of her homemade jam in exactly three days. Each day she sold 2 more
jars than she sold on the previous day. How many jars did she sell each day?
Solution:
Most students can approach the problem from an algebraic point of view:
Representation: Let x denotes the number of jars sold on the first day.
x + 2 denotes the number of jars sold on the second day.
x + 4 denotes the number of jars sold on the third day.
Equation: x + (x + 2) + (x + 4) = 51
3x + 6 = 51
3x = 45
x = 15.
She sold 15 jars the first day, 17 jars the second day, and 19 jars the third day.
Let's look at this problem from logical reasoning.
She sold 51 jars on three days, an average of 17 jars per day. Because the difference between
the numbers sold on each day is a constant, the 17 represents the number sold on the "middle"
day. Thus on the day the previous day, she sold 17 - 2 or 15 jars, and on the day
following, she sold 17 + 2 or 19 jars.
6. Working Backwards
Working backward is an excellent strategy
to use when the final outcome of the problem
has already been given. You just need to work
out what the events were that occurred
previously. This strategy is used when the
problem is presented in steps.

Example:
Sam's mom left a plate of cookies on the counter. Sam ate 2 of them, his dad ate 3 of them, and
they gave 12 to the neighbor. At the end of the day, only 4 cookies were left
on the plate. How many cookies did she make altogether?
 Solution:
In this case, we know that the final cookie amount is 4. So if we work backward to "put back" all the
cookies that were taken or eaten, we can figure out what number they started with. Because cookies
are being taken away, which denotes subtraction, thus, to get back to the original number, we have
to do the opposite: add. If you take the 4 that are left and add the 12 given to the neighbors and add
the 3 that Dad ate, and then add the 2 that Sam ate, we find that Sam's mom made 21 cookies.
Equation:
4 - cookies left
2 - cookies eaten by Sam
3 - cookies eaten by Dad
12- cookies given to the neighbor
By working Backwards; 4 + 12 + 3 + 2 = 21 cookies
 Activity # 3 –Finals for the month of February

Use Polya's Four-step Process for Solving Problems

1. There are 18 animals in a pet store. Some are birds, and some are dogs.
There are 50 legs in all. How many birds and how many dogs are there.

2. In Math class, there are 24 students. There are 6 more boys than girls. How
many girls and boys are there?

3. Suppose the perimeter of the rectangle is 26 meters and has an area of 40

square meters. What is the dimension of the rectangle?