G E 1 1 2 - M A T H E M A T I C S I N T H E M O D E R N W O R L D

P RO B L E M
S O LV I N G
MODULE 3
J O N D E L S . I H A L A S

P A RT- T I M E I N S T R U C TO R
 1. Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
2. Intuition, proof, and certainty
3. Polya’s 4-step in Problem Solving
4. Problem Solving strategies
5. Mathematical Problems involving patterns
6. Recreational Problems using Mathematics

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem Solving
• teaches discernment
• develops grit, a trait that successful students routinely display.
• students learn how to ask determining questions, such as:
• Why is this situation so challenging?
• Do I know how to address the problem?
• Who can help me find a workable solution?
• have a deeper understanding of cause and effect.
• boost reflective, critical thinking.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

 INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE
REASONING

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTIVE REASONING

•Is the process of reaching a general

conclusion by examining specific examples.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

TYPES OF INDUCTIVE REASONING

•Inductive Generalization
•Statistical Induction
•Induction by Confirmation

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTIVE GENERALIZATION

• In this type of inductive reasoning, a situation is presented,

you look at evidence from past similar situations and draw a
conclusion based on the information available.

Example: For the past three years, the company has

beat its revenue goal in Q3. Based on this information,
the company will likely beat its revenue goal in Q3 this
year.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

STATISTICAL INDUCTION

• This type of inductive reasoning utilizes

statistical data to draw conclusions.

Example: 90 percent of the sales team met their quota

last month. Jeff is on the sales team. Jeff likely met his
sales quota last month.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTION by CONFIRMATION
• Induction by confirmation allows you to reach a possible
conclusion, but you must include specific assumptions for
the outcome to be accepted.
Example:
Cardo broke into a building.
Anybody who breaks into a building will have opportunity,
motive and means.
Cardo was in the area and had lock picks in his bag.
Cardo likely broke into the building.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTIVE REASONING TO MAKE A CONJECTURE

Example: Pick a number. Multiply the number by 8, add 6 to the

product, divide the sum by 2, and subtract 3.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTIVE REASONING TO SOLVE AN APPLICATION

Velocity if Height of Example: A tsunami is a sea wave produced

Tsunami, in Tsunami in ft
ft/sec by underwater earthquake. The height of a
6 4 tsunami as it approaches land depends on the
9 9 velocity of the tsunami. Use the table at the
left and inductive reasoning to answer each of
12 16
the following questions.
15 25
a. What happens to the height of a tsunami
18 36
when its velocity is doubled?
21 49
b. What should be the height of a tsunami if
24 64 its velocity is 30 feet per second?
LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING
COUNTEREXAMPLES
A statement is a true statement provided that it is
true in all cases. If you can find one case for which
a statement is not true, called a counterexample,
then the statement is false statement.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

COUNTEREXAMPLES
Example: Verify that each of the following statements is a
false statement by finding a counterexample.
For all number 𝑥.
a. 𝑥 > 0
2
b. 𝑥 > 𝑥
c. 𝑥2 = 𝑥

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTIVE REASONING

• there is always room for error.

• there is still a chance that new facts or
evidence will be uncovered and prove your
theory wrong.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

DEDUCTIVE REASONING
•Is the process of reaching a conclusion by
applying general assumptions, procedures,
or principles.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

DEDUCTIVE REASONING TO ESTABLISH A CONJECTURE

Example: Pick a number. Multiply the number by 8, add 6 to the

product, divide the sum by 2, and subtract 3.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

INDUCTIVE REASONING vs DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Example: Determine whether each of the following arguments is an

example of inductive reasoning or deductive reasoning.
a. During the past 10 years, a tree has produced plums every year.
Last year the tree did not produce plums, so this year the tree will
produce plums.
b. All home improvements cost more than the estimate. The
contractor estimated that my home improvement will cost ₱90,000.
Thus, my home improvement will cost more than ₱90,000.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

LOGIC PUZZLES
Example 1: Each of four neighbors, Sean, Maria, Sarah and Brian, has a different occupation (editor, banker,
chef or dentist). From the following clues, determine the occupation of each number.
1. Maria gets home from work after the banker but before the dentist.
2. Sarah, who is the last to get home from work, is not the editor.
3. The dentist and Sarah leave for work at the same time.
4. The banker lives next door to Brian.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

LOGIC PUZZLES
Example 2: Complete this Magic Square Puzzle. A magic square of order n is
an arrangement of numbers in a square such that the sum of the n numbers
in each row, column, and diagonal is the same number. The magic square
below has order 3, and the sum of the numbers in each row, column, and
diagonal is 15. =15

=15

=15

15 15 15 15
LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING
LOGIC PUZZLES
Example 3: Sudoku is a logic-
based, combinatorial number-
placement puzzle. The
objective is to fill a 9×9 grid
with digits so that each
column, each row, and each of
the nine 3×3 subgrids that
compose the grid contain all
of the digits from 1 to 9.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

PROBLEM SOLVING WITH PATTERNS
•Predict the next term of the sequence
5, 14, 27, 44, 65, . . .

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

FIBONACCI NUMBERS
𝐹1 = 1, 𝐹2 = 1, and 𝐹𝑛 = 𝐹𝑛−1 + 𝐹𝑛−2 for 𝑛 ≥ 3.

Example 1: Use the definition of Fibonacci numbers

to find the seventh and eight Fibonacci numbers.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

FIBONACCI NUMBERS
Example 2: Determine whether each of the following statements
about Fibonacci numbers is true or false. Note: The first 10 terms of
the Fibonacci sequence are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and 55.
a. If 𝑛 is an even number, then 𝐹𝑛 is an odd number

b. 2𝐹𝑛 − 𝐹𝑛−2 = 𝐹𝑛+1 for 𝑛 ≥ 3

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

POLYA’S PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

• George Pólya was a great champion in the field

of teaching effective problem solving skills. He was
born in Hungary in 1887, received his Ph.D. at the
University of Budapest, and was a professor at
Stanford University (among other universities).
• In 1945 George Polya published the book How To
Solve It which quickly became his most prized
publication. It sold over one million copies and has
been translated into 17 languages. In this book he
identifies four basic principles of problem solving.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

POLYA’S FOUR-STEP PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

1. Understand the problem.

2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

POLYA’S FOUR-STEP PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES
1. Understand the problem.
• First. You have to understand the problem.
• What is the unknown? What are the data? What is the condition?
• Is it possible to satisfy the condition? Is the condition sufficient to
determine the unknown? Or is it insufficient? Or redundant? Or
contradictory?
• Draw a figure. Introduce suitable notation.
• Separate the various parts of the condition. Can you write them
down?
LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING
POLYA’S FOUR-STEP PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES
2. Devise a plan.
• Second. Find the connection between the data and the unknown. You may be obliged to consider auxiliary
problems if an immediate connection cannot be found. You should obtain eventually a plan of the solution. •
Have you seen it before? Or have you seen the same problem in a slightly different form?

• Do you know a related problem? Do you know a theorem that could be useful?
• Look at the unknown! Try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown.
• Here is a problem related to yours and solved before. Could you use it? Could you use its result? Could you
use its method? Should you introduce some auxiliary element in order to make its use possible?

• Could you restate the problem? Could you restate it still differently? Go back to definitions.
• If you cannot solve the proposed problem, try to solve first some related problem. Could you imagine a more
accessible related problem? A more general problem? A more special problem? An analogous problem? Could
you solve a part of the problem?
• Did you use all the data? Did you use the whole condition? Have you taken into account all essential notions
involved in the problem?
LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING
POLYA’S FOUR-STEP PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

3. Carry out the plan.

• Third. Carry out your plan.
• Carrying out your plan of the solution, check each step.
• Can you see clearly that the step is correct?
• Can you prove that it is correct?

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

POLYA’S FOUR-STEP PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

4. Review the solution.

• Fourth. Examine the solution obtained.
• Can you check the result? Can you check the argument?
• Can you derive the solution differently? Can you see it at a
glance?
• Can you use the result, or the method, for some other
problem?

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Make organize list)
Example 1: A baseball won two out of their last four games. In
how many different orders could they have two wins and two
losses in four games?
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Solve a similar but simpler problem)
Example 2: In a basketball league consisting of 10 teams, each
team plays each of the other teams exactly three times. How
many league games will be played?
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Make a table and look for a pattern)
Example 3: Determine the digit 100 places to the right of the
7
decimal point in the decimal representation .
27

1. Understand the problem.

2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Work backwards)

Example 4: In consecutive turns of a Monopoly game, Michael

first paid ₱2500 for a hotel. He then lost half his money when se
landed on a Boardwalk. Next, he collected ₱1200 for passing
GO. He then lost half his remaining money when he landed in
Ponciano Avenue. Michael now has ₱6300. How much did he
just have before he purchased the hotel?

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Work backwards)
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Guess and check)
Example 5: The product of the ages, in years of three teenagers
is 4590. None of the teens are the same age. What are the ages
of the teenagers?
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING

APPLY POLYA’S STRATEGY (Solve a deceptive problem)
Example 6: A hat and a jacket together cost ₱1000. The jacket
costs ₱250 more than the hat. What are the cost of the hat and
the cost of the jacket?
1. Understand the problem.
2. Devise a plan.
3. Carry out the plan.
4. Review the solution.

LESSON 3 PROBLEM SOLVING