Polya’s Method

EASTER EGG HUNT

DANIELLE FOUND 23 EGGS.SHE SMILED BROADLY BECAUSE SHE HAD FOUND 9

MORE EGGS THAN CHRIS.JENNIE SMILED EVEN MORE.SHE HAD FOUND
EXACTLY AS MANY EGGS AS CHRIS AND DANIELLE TOGETHER.HOW MANY
EGGS DID JENNIE FIND?

POLYA’S PROBLEM SOLVING METHOD

At first we need to address the steps or method to take to solve a problem. Here I’ll show
you how to solve a problem using Polya’s Method.Polya’s Problem Solving Method says that
we have to undergo these steps in order to achieve its goal of finding a solution to a
problem. The steps are:

1. Understanding the Problem

2. Plan the Problem Solving Strategy

3. Solve the Problem

4. Check the Solutions

OUR SOLUTION USING POLYA’S METHOD:

1. PRILIMINARY STAGE : PROBLEM UNDERSTANDING

We decided that firstly we need to understand and know what the variables
are first in order to solve a problem.

a) Understand Variables in the Problem :

Below are the variables that we need to define and understand

DANIELLE , CHRIS , JENNIE

b) Relationship :

 Danniele’s eggs MORE than Chris’s eggs

 Jenny’s eggs EQUALS to Danielle PLUS Chris’s eggs

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c) Variables that need to be thoroughly search / answered

JENNIE , CHRIS

2. STRATEGY PLANNING

 There are three TYPES OF PLAN that we use for this problem

solving :

I. ANALYSIS

i. What is Given?

Number of eggs collected by Danielle

ii. What to find?

Number of eggs collected by Jenny & Chris

iii. How to Find?

Addition(+) and Subtraction(-)

iv. Solutions:

Danielle = 23 eggs

Chris = Danielle - 9 eggs

Jennie = Chris + Danielle

For the Analysis Method, teacher will ask a few questions to help the pupils to make
correct analysis which are:

1) What is given?
2) What to find?
3) How to find?

After that, the students will thinks the appropriate answers. The students will answer
the equation above such that

1) Number of eggs collected by Danielle

2) Number of eggs collected by Jennie and Chris

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3) Additional and Subtraction

For stage of strategy implementation, students will answer based on the equation
above. For the first step, students will write the basic information in mathematical
form which is

Danielle =23 eggs

Chris = Danielle – 9 eggs

Jennie =Chris + Danielle

Then student will select the operation and do the calculating part based on the basic
information such as

Chris =23 - 9

=14

Jennie =14 + 23

=37

Hence, students will write the answer like:

The numbers of eggs collected by Chris is 14 and Jennie is 37

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II. DIAGRAM

When given this question to a group of students, from the first sentence “DANIELLE
FOUND 23 EGGS “ the first thing that would come into their minds are the pictures of
Easter eggs.

Then only will they imagine how Danielle looks like.

But the problem is, they can’t really picture how many 23 eggs are????

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 Polya’s Method

Because of this problem, the students will have a difficult time focusing and understanding
the last three statements given to them “SHE SMILED BROADLY BECAUSE SHE HAD
FOUND 9 MORE EGGS THAN CHRIS.JENNIE SMILED EVEN MORE.SHE HAD
FOUND EXACTLY AS MANY EGGS AS CHRIS AND DANIELLE TOGETHER.” Another
problem will come up when they read the last sentence given “HOW MANY EGGS DID
JENNIE FIND?” that ended with a question mark .Which added to their own question
marks from the beginning! Questions that came out of their heads are

1) How much is 23 eggs?

2) What is this question about?
3) Who is Jennie??

The only question that we need to entertain is the number 1 and 2 question. We need to
make the image in their minds become clearer by tackling the image that they had in their
mind previously. This is so that they will be able to come up with new questions(the right
questions ).The questions that we want is

1) How much is 23 eggs?

2) How many eggs do Danielle and Chris have?
3) What’s the association between Danielle’s, Chris’s and
Jennie’s eggs?
4) How many eggs does Jennie have?

We can help them visualise how 23 eggs looks like by giving them a diagrammatic approach,
such as drawing 23 eggs

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The students will have to count the eggs themselves to make sure it is, after all,23 eggs.

After finish counting, the teacher will write on the board, next to the eggs “Danielle”

and“23”

And then, to get them to understand the following 3 sentences , the teacher will
demonstrate how Danielle’s eggs are 9 more then Chris’s.To do this, she will ask

“If Danielle says that she is happy,because her eggs are 9 more than what Chris has,how
many eggs does Chris have?Is Danielle’s eggs more or Chris’s?”

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Then the demonstration should look like this (the teacher will cancel out 9 eggs from
Danielle’s 23 eggs )

And write down “Chris” “ 23 – 9 = 14”

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Now, from these two diagrams, the students should be able to combine both eggs of
Danielle’s and Chris’s to make the amount of Jennie’s eggs

23 + 14 =
37 EGGS
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III. DEDUCTION

In the deduction approach, the students not only require to analyze the problem, but
also have to remember and apply the relevant formulae, laws or theorems based on
the analysis of the problem such that

Deduction process
Problem Analysis (application of formulae, Problem Solution
laws, theorem)

There are four main steps which we can apply the deduction method to solve this
problems. So, for the first step teacher will asked the students to look for the
objective of the problem solving. Then the students will find the objective is to find
the number collection of Jennie eggs. For the second steps, students will find the
suitable way to solve this problem which is use the Addition and Subtraction
Method .Then the student will find the information that can be obtained from the
equation which are

Danielle =23 eggs

= Chris + 9

Jennie = Chris + Danielle

By using the above information, students will find the number collection of Chris’s
eggs which is

Chris : Chris + 9 = 23

Chris = 23-9

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Chris = 14

Hence, automatically students will find the number of collection Jennie’s eggs which
is

Jennie = Chris + Danielle

= 14 +23

= 37

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3. IMPLEMENTATION :We use

a) Deduction

b) Diagram

Simply because both methods could be used together to make the problem
solving easier to understand and deduce.

4. CHECKING UP

Checking up is done by using the INVERSE OPERATION. We need to check from

the first two sentence “DANIELLE FOUND 23 EGGS.SHE SMILED BROADLY
BECAUSE SHE HAD FOUND 9 MORE EGGS THAN CHRIS” , the first step of
the Deduction and Diagrammatic approach.

1) CHECK 1: Will you get the amount of Chris’s eggs if you minus 9
from Danielle’s eggs?

DANIELLE = CHRIS + 9
= 14 + 9
= 23 CORRECT!!

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2) CHECK2: Will you get the amount of Jennie’s eggs if you add up
Chris’s and Danielle’s eggs?

DANIELLE = JENNIE -CHRIS

= 37 - 14
= 23 CORRECT!!

3) CHECK 3 : Will you get Chris’s eggs if you minus Jennie’s to

Danielle’s eggs?

Hence the answers are right according to the check-up.

CHRIS = JENNIE - DANIELLE
= 37 - 23
= 14 CORRECT!!

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