Lesson 6 Illustrating the “Guess and Check” and “Working Backwards” Strategies in Problem Solving

Lesson Objectives: At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Apply the “Guess and Check” and “Working Backwards” strategies in problem solving.
2. Enhance problem solving skills.

Independent Practice: Solve the problem below.

1. Use the strategy “Guess and Check” to solve the problem below.

Carlissle went to her grandfather's farm. Her grandfather has chickens and goats on his farm. She asked him
how many chickens and how many goats. Because her grandfather likes mathematical puzzles, he told her that
his animals had 26 heads and 68 legs and from that information she could calculate the number of chickens and
the number of goats. If you were Carlissle, how would you solve the problem? You may use the table below.

 
Number Number 
Guess Chickens Goats
of heads of legs
 
1 13 13 26 78
         
         

2. Use the strategy “Working Backwards” to solve the problem below.

Joshua is five years older than David. Simon is four years older
than Joshua and nine years older than David. Simon’s and David’s ages
added together equal 15. How old are the boys?

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