Download Solving Word Problems - STEMTeachersNowPDProject

Solving Word Problems
“Word
Problems
scare me!”
“Word
Problems
make me
nervous!”
“Word
Problems?
I just skip
them!”
Don’t Worry!
With just 4
easy steps,
you can
become…
a Word
Problem Whiz!
Step 1
UNDERSTAND the problem.
What are you trying to figure
out?
Here’s an example:
Yesterday, Alex saw 6 birds in his
backyard. Today, he saw 3 times as
many as yesterday. How many birds
did he see in all?
In this problem, what are you trying to
figure out?
If you said:
“How many birds did Alex see in
all?” then…
You’re right!
Step 2
Get a PLAN.
How will you answer the
question?
Should you ADD,SUBTRACT,
MULTIPLY, OR DIVIDE?
Look for clues.
Here are some
CLUE WORDS
that will help
you decide
what to do.
Addition Clue
Words
in all
altogether
sum
total
Subtraction Clue
Words
how many more
how many are left
difference
Multiplication Clue
Words
times
product of
multiplied by
by (dimension)
Division Clue
Words
quotient of
divided by
half for a fraction
as much
Split
separated
cut up
parts
sharing something equally
Let’s look at the
example again.
Yesterday, Alex saw 6 birds in his
backyard. Today, he saw 3 times as
many as yesterday. How many birds
did he see in all?
Do you see any CLUE WORDS?
If you said…
“three times” and “in all” then…
You’re right!
The words “three times” tell us that
we should multiply!
The words “in all” tell us that we
should ADD!
Now that we UNDERSTAND the
problem, and have a PLAN, we’re
ready for the next step!
Step 3
SOLVE it!
Write a number sentence using
the information in the problem,
and…
Work it
out!
Give it a try!
Yesterday, Alex saw 6 birds in his
backyard. Today, he saw 3 times as
many as yesterday. How many birds
did he see in all?
Write a number sentence and SOLVE it.
If you wrote…
6 + (3 x 6) = 24 then…
You’re right!
Step 4
LOOK BACK.
Does your answer fit the question?
We had to find out how many birds
Alex saw in all.
First we had to multiply 6 by 3 to tell
us how many he saw today. Then we
added the number he saw yesterday
to the number he saw today.
Our answer was “Alex saw 24
birds in all.”
It makes sense!
We did it!
We are Word
Problem
Whizzes!
Here are the
steps once more:
Step 1 – UNDERSTAND the
problem.
Step 2 – Get a PLAN.
Step 3 – SOLVE it!
Step 4 – LOOK BACK.
Ready for some more
practice?
• http://www.mathplayground.com/gsm
begin.html
• http://www.mathplayground.com/mat
hhoops_Z1.html
Have more time?
• http://www.mathplayground.com/wor
dproblems.html
Let’s see if you can pick
out the clue words!
• http://www.thatquiz.org/tq/practice
test?8ydrp8w15ra