Problem Solving for 3rd-6th class pupils

1. Problem-solving

2. Examine the problem carefully:
 What does it tell me?
 What does it ask me to do?
 Have I all the information I
need?
 Is there any information that is
not helpful?

3. How will I solve it?
I could:
 Use concrete materials
 Draw diagram/picture
 Make a chart/table of information
 See if there are any patterns to spot?
 Try to guess and test (trial and error)
 Break it down and solve each part

4. Have I done what I was asked?
 Have I arrived at a solution/solutions?
 Have I shown this answer clearly?
 Have I expressed my answer in the
correct units?
 Have I shown clearly how I arrived at
this answer?

5. Summary: Problem-solving
 Examine the problem carefully:
 How will I solve it?
 Have I done what I was asked?

6. Problems to solve
 Mary’s age is a multiple of 2;  A furniture store sold 16 tables,
next year it will be a multiple of some with 3 legs and some with
3. What age will she be when 4.
this happens again? How often The tables had 52 legs in total;
does it happen? how many of each did they sell?
 How many times from midnight  My 9 coins look identical but
to noon does a digital clock one is lighter than the rest. How
show 3 or 4 consecutive can I use a balance twice to find
numbers. Remember, zeros are the counterfeit coin?
not shown before a 3-digit time.  Cut a pizza with 4 straight cuts.
Record your answers carefully
to help you look for a pattern. What is the fewest possible
number of pieces?
How long is it between these
times? What is the most possible?

7. Problem-solving
I am sitting in company at a round
table. I want to share out my 25
sweets, one at a time around the table,
so that I get the first and the last sweet.
How many are sitting at the table?

8. Problem-solving
 A farmer rears free-range pigs in a large
walled field; she wants to keep them in
a pen some of the time, but she has just
24 fence panels, each 1 metre long.
Investigate possible arrangements to
give the pigs as much space as
possible?