PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

procedures which guide a persons choice of what skills to use or what knowledge to draw upon in the course of solving a problem

PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

1. Guess and check. 2. Chart, table or graph. 3. Look for a pattern. 4. Simplify the problem. 5. Act out situations/ experiment. .

PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES

6. Use a formula or an equation. 7. Drawing a picture / diagram. 8. Work backward. 9. Use logical reasoning.

GUESS AND CHECK Make a guess and check Repeat the same procedure until problem solved Keeping record of all guesses Determine how close guesses came to the solution

GUESS AND CHECK

Question: Amy and Judy sold 12 show tickets altogether. Amy sold 2 more tickets than Judy. How many tickets did each girl sell ? Step 1 : UNDERSTAND the question (What do you need to ask ?) How many tickets sold ? (12 tickets ) Who sold more tickets : Amy sold 2 more tickets than Judy, how many tickets did each girl sell ?

GUESS AND CHECK

Step 2 : Devise a PLAN How can you solve the problem ? You can guess and check - to find two numbers with a sum of 12 - and a difference of 2 - If your first guess does not work, try two different numbers

GUESS AND CHECK

Step 3 : carry out the plan, solve it
First Guess: Amy = 8 tickets Judy = 4 tickets Check 8 + 4 = 12 8 - 4 = 4 ( Amy sold 4 more tickets) These numbers do not work! Second Guess: Amy = 7 tickets Judy = 5 tickets Check 7 + 5 = 12 7- 5 = 2 ( Amy sold 2 more tickets) These numbers do work!

 Step 4 : Looking back

Sample problems
Place the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the seven boxes so that the sum along each line segment is 13; that is, the three sets of connected boxes should all sum to 13

7 7 6

SAMPLE PROBLEMS 1. Remove two of these 12 line segments to leave two squares

2.

Construct four triangles with 6 (equal-sized) toothpicks

3. There are two rectangles whose perimeter is the same number as its area. Find both rectangles.

Sample problems
1. My license tag is three digit number. The product of the digits is 216, and their sum is 19 and the digits appear in ascending order . Find the license plate number. 2. If two 5-digit numbers A and B are formed by the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, given that A/B = , then what is the possible largest sum of A+B ?

Sample problems
3. Take 11 marbles . Put them in 3 piles so an odd number is in each pile. How many ways can this be done ?

ORGANIZE INFORMATION IN A CHART, TABLE OR GRAPH

Presenting information so it can be read quickly and easily Listing information in an orderly way

ORGANIZE INFORMATION IN A CHART, TABLE OR GRAPH

Graph is designed to show relationship between two or more sets of facts or information. Facts and information and often be organized in a picture, bar, line or circle chart

Skills needed
Study the problems and decide on the right graphs/chart to use Constructing graph/chart Analyze and interpret information from graph/chart Make decision based on the information derived

Sample problem
A rectangle has an area of 120 sq cm. Its length and width are whole numbers. What are the possibilities for the two numbers ? Which possibilities gives the smallest perimeter ?

Sample problem
This stairway is made of cubes. How many cubes would be needed to make the steps 9 steps high?

Look for a pattern

Involves organizing and evaluating information, seeing relationship Patterns can be pictorial sequences or numerical The task is to check on the missing term in the sequence and whether the pattern is consistent

Skills needed
Analyze patterns and make generalizations based on observation Check generalizations against known information Conduct a formal proof to verify the generalization

Sample problem
Arrange the equilateral triangles with the length of each side as one unit as in the pattern below

2.1 Find the perimeter when n = 10 No of triangles (n) : ... Perimeter (an) : 1 3 2 3 .

2.2 What is the pattern of the sequence ?

Sample problem
Look at the chart and fill in the numbers. The key is to find a pattern.
4 2 2 4 5 2 3 6 9 4 5 20 16 5 6 42 25 7 8 63 1 1 2 7 4

Act it out
sample problem 1

Nicole, Mike, Drew, Carly, and Fred were in line to go on the roller coaster. Mike was ahead of Carly but behind Nicole. Drew was ahead of Carly but behind Mike. Fred was last. What order were they in?

Act it out
sample problem 2 Ali bought a goat with RM50, he sold the goat to his friend for RM60. The next day he bought the goat back with RM70 so that he could sell it to his neighbor for RM80. How much money does Ali gain ?

Nicholas is a selling watch. One day a man bought a watch which cost RM80 from him. He paid using a RM100 note but Nicholas has no loose change to give him the balance so he exchange the RM100 with his neighbor, Lewis and gave RM20 balance to the customer. However, 30 minutes after the customer left, Lewis came to Nicholas and told him that the RM100 given to him is a fake and he wanted RM100 back from Nicholas. How much is Nicholas lost ?

Act it out
sample problem 3 Tower of Hanoi There are 5 round disks with different diameters piled in order on one of the three rods. By moving one disk at a time from one rod to another, the whole pile is to be moved to another rod. No disk is ever placed on a smaller one. How many moves will this task take ?

Act it out
sample problem 4
There are five people in a room and each person shakes every other person's hand exactly one time. How many handshakes will there be? What is the total number of handshakes ? How many people are there? Five. How many times does each person shake another's hand? Only once What strategy ? Act it out/ table

USE A FORMULA OR AN EQUATION

A formula is an equation expressing a mathematical rule An equation is a mathematical statement with an equals sign

SAMPLE PROBLEMS
1. A piece of wire 52 meters long is cut into two segments of integral length. Each segment is bent to form a square . The sum of the areas of two squares is 97 square meters. Find the length of each segment wire. 2. At my birth my father was 30 years old. Now he is 3 times my age. What is my age and my fathers age now ?

Drawing sample problem

Two frogs are hopping along a path one lily pad wide, going in the same direction. There are 18 lily pads and one frog jumps 3 lily pads at a time, the other jumps two lily pads at a time. If the frogs leave the shore one after the other, how many lily pads will be jumped on by both frogs?

Have Fun by Working Backwards

Solving the problem by starting with the final data or statements and working backwards to get the starting values.

Working Backwards sample problem 1

A man has to be at work by 9:00 a.m. and it takes him 15 minutes to get dressed, 20 minutes to eat and 35 minutes to walk to work. What time should he get up?

Working Backwards sample problem 2

Kelly saved her money for a long time for a horse. When she finally had enough money, she bought a horse named Elvis for RM3,500. Next, she bought a saddle for RM550 and a bridle for $60. She picked out a navy blue saddle blanket for RM15. Finally she went to the food store and bought 10 kg of food for RM10 per kg. Kelly had RM775 left after purchasing the horse and tack. How much did she have in her bank account before she bought all of it?

Working Backwards sample problem 3

A student needs at least a 95% average to receive a grade of A. On the first three tests the student averaged 92%. What is the minimum a student must average on the last two tests to receive a grade of A?

Working Backwards SAMPLE QUESTION 4

A man competing on a game show ran into a losing streak. First he bet half of his money on one question and lose it. Then he lost half of his remaining money on another question. Then he lost RM300 on another question. Then he lost half of his remaining money on another question. Finally he got a question right and won RM200. At this point the show ended, and he had RM1200 left. How much did he have before his losing streak began ?

Logical Reasoning
This strategy involves the use of clues to help students arrive at a solution.

Logical Reasoning -sample problem 1

Kim, Raelene, Jim and Rick finished first, second, third and fourth in a motor bike race. If their numbers were 5, 17, 1 and 7, use the following clues to find out who had what number and what order they finished in. 17 said she would have placed higher if her bike had not stalled at the start. Rick finished before 7 but after Raelene. 1's father, said he was very proud of his daughter's finish. Kim finished after 5. Jim wasn't third.

said Im Dick

said the guy in the middle is Harry

said the guy in the middle is Tom

Three golfers named Tom, Dick and Harry are walking to the clubhouse. Tom, the best golfer of the three, always tells the truth. Dick sometimes tells the truth, while Harry, the worst golfer, never does. Can you figure out who is who ?

More problems
If your save 1 sen on the 1st day, 2 sen on the 2nd day, 4 sen on the 3rd day and so on. Would it be possible for you to save 1 million in your life time ? If yes, how long ?

More problems
How long would it take to spread a rumor in a town of 90, 000 people if every one who heard the rumor told it to 3 new people in 15 minutes ?

More problems
Place the numbers 1 through 9 in the cells so that the sum in each direction is 15