TUTORIAL PROBLEM SOLVING

Work in groups of two or three

Tutorial 1.1
Question 1: The Kings Elephant Problem.
Once upon a time the King of Siam asked his warriors to measure the weight of an
elephant. However the weight of the elephant was too heavy to be measured by the
biggest weighing machine available. Your task is to help the warriors to solve the
problem.
Question 2: Abu Nawass Problem
In one of the stories in One Thousand and One Night, Abu Nawas would only allow
any traveler to fetch water from the only well in the desert after solving the following
problem.
The travelers were given a 3-litre container and a 5-litre container. They have to
measure exactly four and seven litres of water using the above containers. You are
required to help the travelers solve the problem.

Tutorial 1.2: Creative Problem Solving.

Identify the strategy that you used to solve the problem in Tutorial 1.
Create another problem that can be solved using different strategy / strategies.
Group Presentation.

Tutorial 2.1:

In groups of 2 3, discuss:
o What is Numeracy?
o Relate Numeracy to National Mathematics Curriculum.
o As a teacher, how can you help your students to acquire this proficiency?
Present results of your groups discussion to the whole class.

Tutorial 2.2:

Physical manipulative materials such as counters are commonly used to promote

the learning of computation among primary school children. In recent years, the
advancement in computer technology has resulted in the creation of virtual
manipulative material that can be seen and manipulated on a computer screen.

Compare and contrast the effectiveness of using virtual manipulative materials

and physical manipulative materials in the teaching and learning computation
among primary school children.

Identify appropriate and inappropriate uses of calculator and computer in the

teaching of computation among primary school children.

Tutorial 2.3:

In groups of 2 3, discuss:
o Why and when do we need rough estimation?
o What are the advantages and disadvantages of applying estimation in real
life?

Tutorial 3.1:
1. Discuss and identify all measurable properties of the following objects:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

A bulletin board,
A table,
An extension cord,
A bowl.

2. Suggest a suitable standard unit for each of the following measurements:

The distance between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok,

The height of a front gate,
The amount of annual rainfall of a place,
The amount of water in a dam,
The amount of petrol to fill the tank of a car,
The mass of a piece of A4 paper,
The height of Mount Kinabalu.

Justify each of your choices of measurement units.

3. Identify some examples of non-standard units of measurement that are
commonly used in any local community in Malaysia.
4. Explore the following two problems:

Do all shapes with fixed area have the same perimeter?

Do all shapes with fixed perimeter have the same area?

Tutorial 3.2:
1. What is the relationship between gram and liter?
2. What are the advantages of the metric units of measurement?
3. Given that 1 mile = 1.6 km. Use a calculator to verify that a hectare is about 2.5
acres. Show all the steps in your calculation.
Tutorial 4.1:
4. Cullianan diamond, the largest diamond found in 1906 at the Premier Mine in S.
In smallAfrica,
groups,
discuss3106
on the
following:
weighed
carats.
Estimate the weight of Cullianan diamond in
pounds. (Given that: 1 carat = 200 mg, 2.2kg = 1 lb)
Words, vocabulary, and language used to describe 2-D shapes and 3-D solids.

Similarities and differences between:

(a) Cube, cuboid, cylinder and prism,
(b) Prism and pyramid,
(c) Pyramid and cone.

The relationships between:

(a) Cube and cuboid,
(b) Cylinder and prism.

Definition of polygon and classifications of polygons according to number of

sides.
3

Properties of n-sided polygons for 3 n 10.

Tutorial 4.3: Area & Perimeter of 2-D Shapes

1 unit
Tutorial 4.2:

1 unit

Paper-folding activities
This
is a unit
tile. 2-D
Theshapes
length by
of each
side
tile is 1 unit. The area of this
Construct
thesquare
following
folding
anofA4this
paper.
tile is 1 unit2.
A scalene triangle,
Task A: Below are ALL the possible shapes constructed by joining 4 units of square
An isosceles triangle,
tiles.
An equilateral triangle,
A rectangle,
A square,
A kite,
A rhombus,
A parallelogram,
A trapezium,
A regular pentagon,
A regular hexagon.
What is the area of each of these shapes?
What is the perimeter of each of these shapes?
Which shape has the minimum perimeter?
Task B: Construct all the possible shapes by joining 9 unit square tiles.
What can you say about the area of all the shapes?
Which shape has the minimum perimeter?
Make a conjecture about the shape with minimum perimeter.
Task C: Test your conjecture with shapes constructed by joining
(a) 16 unit square tiles
(d) 25 unit square tiles

(b) 8 unit square tiles

(e) 10 unit square tiles

(c) 5 unit square tiles

(f) 11 unit square tiles

Base on your investigation in Tasks A, B and C, make a conclusion on the shape with
minimum perimeter constructed by joining unit square tiles.
4

Tutorial 5.1:
1. When flipping a coin, there are only two possible outcomes: a heads or a
tails. So, we say that the probability of getting a heads is one out of two, that
is . When you sit for the examination at the end of this semester, there say that
the probability of you passing the examination is also ? If yes, why? If no,
why not?
2. A person in a small foreign town applies for a marriage permit at age 18. To
obtain the permit, the person is handed six strings, as shown in Figure (a). On
one side (top or bottom) the ends are picked randomly, two at a time, and tied,
forming three separate knots. The same procedure is then repeated for the other
set of string ends, forming three more knots, as in Figure (b) . If the strings form
one closed ring, as in Figure (c), the person obtains the permit.

(a) Do you think the probability of the person getting the marriage permit is higher
or lower that the probability of not getting the permit?
(b) Carry out an experiment to check your guess in (a).
5
(c) Determine the theoretical probability that the marriage permit will be obtained

on the first try.

Source: Billstein, R., Libeskind, S. & Lott, J. W. (1990). A Problem-solving approach to

mathematics for elementary school teachers. 4th . Redwood City, CA: Benjamin/ Cummings.
P. 402.

JAWAPAN :

Tutorial 1.1
1.1 Weighing an elephant
1. Load the elephant onto a boat large enough to carry it.
2. The boat will sink slightly, and you mark the level of the water on the
side of the boat.
3. Then you offload the elephant and fill the boat with bags until the boat
sinks to the level marked.
4. The bags can be individually weighed using beam scales and the weight
of the elephant is the sum of the weight of the bags.

1.2 Abu Nawass Problem

1.2.1 measure exactly four litres of water:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Fill 3ltr can, pour into 5ltr can.

Fill 3ltr can and pour into 5ltr can again, this would leave 1ltr in 3ltr can.
Empty 5ltr can and pour the 1ltr into it.
Fill 3ltr can again and pour into 5ltr can.... making 4ltrs!

1.2.2 measure exactly 7 liters of water:

1. Fill the 5 liter container, then use that 5 liters to fill the 3 liter container.
2. Dump out the 3 liter container.
3. What was left in the 5 liters container is 2 liters. Pour this into the 3 liter
container.
4. Fill the 5 liter container again.
5. Now you have 7 liters : 5 in the large container and 2 in the smaller one.

Tutorial 2.1:
2.1.1 What is Numeracy?
1. Numeracy is the effective use of mathematics to meet the general
demands of life at school and at home, in paid work, and for
participation in community and civic life. (MCEETYA Benchmarking Task
Force 1997:4)
2. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Numeracy is the ability to reason
with numbers and other mathematical concepts. A
numerically literate person can manage and respond to the
mathematical demands of life. Aspects of numeracy include number
sense, operation sense, computation, measurement, geometry,
probability and statistics.

2.1.2 Relation Numeracy to National Mathematics Curriculum.

7

The national mathematics curriculum will be the basis of planning, teaching,

and assessment of school mathematics, and be useful for, and useable by,
experienced and less experienced teachers of K12 mathematics.

2.1.3 As a teacher, how can you help your students to acquire this proficiency?
In planning the teaching of a topic, a mathematics teacher should consider
how and when the following factors could be effectively used
a) Activities that give meaningful learning experiences
b) The use of mathematics in real life situations
c) The effective use of problem solving skills
d) Instilling of Malaysian societal values
e) Imparting and appreciating the elements of history of mathematics

To achieve the aims of the curriculum, several factors are given priority.
a. Students active involvement in the learning process is emphasised.
b. The learning activities, the types of questions asked and the guides
given to students should be geared towards upgrading the ability to
think and assisting students learning through real life experiences.
c. The simulated experiences should involve activities that encourage
inquiry and provide opportunities for students to reach certain
conclusions or solve problem independently.
d. These experiences could also include the use of mathematics in
situations that are meaningful to students.

Tutorial 2.2

2.2.1 Compare and contrast the effectiveness of using virtual manipulative

materials and physical manipulative materials in the teaching and learning
computation among primary school children.

In math classrooms today, teachers are using manipulatives to help students

learn mathematics. Manipulative materials are any concrete objects that allow
students to explore an idea in an active, hands-on approach. Manipulatives
can be almost anything base ten blocks, tangrams, spinners, rulers, fraction
barsshapes, algebra tiles, geometric plane, solids figures, geoboardsor even
paper that is cut or folded.
The power of using manipulatives is that they let the student connect
mathematical ideas and symbols to physical objects, thus promoting better
understanding. With many experiences building and representing
using manipulatives, students can deepen their understanding of abstract
math concepts.
Manipulatives can also be tools to help students solve problems. By using
physical models to represent their thinking, they can move and adapt the
materials as they explore possible solutions to problems. In real life, many
people use models to help solve problems, such as an architect who might
construct a model of a building or an engineer who might build a
prototype of a piece of equipment.

2.2.2 Identify appropriate and inappropriate uses of calculator and computer in

the teaching of computation among primary school children
Appropriate

Inappropriate
No ideas
2.3.1 Why and when do we need rough estimation
Estimation theory is a branch of statistics and signal processing that deals with
estimating the values of parameters based on measured/empirical data that has a
random component. The parameters describe an underlying physical setting in such
a way that their value affects the distribution of the measured data.
10

An estimator attempts to approximate the unknown parameters using the

measurements.
For example, it is desired to estimate the proportion of a population of voters who will
vote for a particular candidate. That proportion is the unobservable parameter; the
estimate is based on a small random sample of voters.
In estimation theory, it is assumed the measured data is random with probability
distribution dependent on the parameters of interest. For example, in electrical
communication theory, the measurements which contain information regarding the
parameters of interest are often associated with a noisy signal. Without randomness,
or noise, the problem would be deterministic and estimation would not be needed.

2.3.2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of applying estimation in

real life?
Advantages
1. Estimates (i.e. budget, schedule, etc.) become more realistic as work
progresses, because important issues are discovered earlier.
2. It is more able to cope with the (nearly inevitable) changes that software
development generally entails.
3. Software engineers (who can get restless with protracted design processes)
can get their hands in and start working on a project earlier.

Disadvantages
1. Highly customized limiting re-usability

11

2. Applied differently for each application 3. Risk of not meeting budget or

schedule 4. Risk of not meeting budget or schedule

Tutorial 3.1:
1. Discuss and identify all measurable properties of the following objects:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

A bulletin board,
A table,
An extension cord,
A bowl.

Answers
( a.) Abulletin board (perimeter ,area ,height ,width)
(b). A table (width ,metre ,cm ,height ,area)
( c ) An extension cord ( metre )
( d ) Abowl (perimeter, weight, area)

1. ( a) a bulletin board

by using ruler

12

(b) A table

( c ) An extension cord

By measurable tape

By measurable tape

3.2
3.2.1What is the relationship between gram and liter?

One liter is the volume of a cube with 10cm sides (refers to

illustration below).
The spelling of the word used by the International Bureau of
Weights and Measures is "litre" and this is also the usual one in
most English-speaking countries, but in American English the
spelling is "liter", being endorsed by the United States.
Litre

13

A gram and a liter are units of two separate measurements.

Grams are a measure of mass which most widely used unit of measurement
for non-liquid ingredients, whereas liters are a measure of volume, so a
liter of aluminum will weigh fewer grams than a liter of gold.

A liter of water has a mass almost exactly equal to 1000 gram of

water. An early definition of the 1000 gram was set as the mass
of one liter of water. Because volume changes with temperature
and pressure, and pressure uses units of mass, the definition of
1000 gram was changed. At standard pressure, one liter of water
has a mass of 999.975 gram at 4C, and 997 gram at 25C

There is an indirect relationship between them, and that is that

any material's net mass will increase with it's volume. The units
themselves though, are not related.

3.2.2What are the advantages of the metric units of measurement?

Metric is one group of units used to measure items such as length,
temperature, time and weight is known as the metric system. Some units
that come from the metric system you may have heard of such as the
meter, the kilogram and etc.
14

Several advantages/benefits come from the metric Unit of Measurements

(UoM) adoption, 3 of them are listed as below:

1) The metric system has been adopted by most major countries around
the world. By the mid-1970s, most countries had converted the
metric system or had plans to do so. Hence metric system adoption is
able to standardize the measurement around the globe actually.
When it comes to measurement, the United States is the only major
country who has not adopted the metric system.
2) Metric system is a logical and exact system as during its invention,
scientist has designed the metric system to fit their needs.
3) The metric system was designed to be simple. When making
measurements of all kinds, it is only necessary to know a few metric
units. There are only 7 base units in metric UoM if compared to 20
base units found in inch-pound system of measurement. The metric
system also follows the decimal number system, each metric unit
increases or decreases in size by 10 (example: 1 meter = 10
decimeters; 1 decimeter = 10 centimeters and etc).

15

3.2.3Given that 1 mile = 1.6km. Use a calculator to verify that a hectare

is about 2.5 acres. Show all the steps in your calculation.

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres (100
m by 100 m), and primarily used in the measurement of land.

The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the

imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are
the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most
common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land. One international acre is
equal to 4046.8564224 square metres.

Basic of UoM:
1mile = 1.6km
1mile = 2.56 km
1km = 100hectare
2.56km=632.56 acres

Relation between km and acre

2.56km=632.56 acres
1km=632.562.56

16

=247.09km

Unit conversion
1km=100hectare
=247.09acres

100hectare=247.09acres
1heactare = 247.09100
=2.47acres (proven)

Cullianan diamond the largest diamond found in 1906 at the Premier Mine
in S.Africa, weighed 3106 carats. Estimate the weight of Cullianan
diamond in pounds.(Given that: 1 carat = 200mg, 2.2kg = 1lb)

17

Carat to mg conversion:
1carat = 200mg
3106carat = 200 x 3102
= 621200 mg

Mg to Kg conversion:
621200 mg 1000 = 621.20g
= 0.62120kg

Kg to Pound conversion:
0.6212kg 2.2kg = 0.282lb.

18

Tutorial 4.1:
In small groups, discuss on the following:

Words, vocabulary, and language used to describe 2-D shapes and 3-D
solids.

Similarities and differences between:

(d) Cube, cuboid, cylinder and prism,
(e) Prism and pyramid,
(f) Pyramid and cone.

The relationships between:

(c) Cube and cuboid,
(d) Cylinder and prism.

Definition of polygon and classifications of polygons according to number

of sides.

Properties of n-sided polygons for 3 n 10.

SUGGESTED ANSWER.
1) Words, vocabulary, and language used to describe 2-D shapes and 3-D
solids.
2-D shapes.
These shapes are flat and can only be drawn on paper.
They have two dimensions length and width.
They are sometimes called plane shapes.
3-D solids.

These shapes are solid or hollow.

They have three dimensions length, width and height.

2) Similarities and differences between:

19

Cube, cuboid, cylinder and prism,

Shapes
Cube

Similarities
A three-dimensional shape which has

Differences
6 square equal size flat

Cuboid

6 square faces all the same size.

A three-dimensional shape which has

faces.
6 rectangular flat faces.

Cylinder

6 rectangular faces.
A three-dimensional shape with

2 circular ends of equal

circular ends of equal size.

A three dimensional shape that has

size.
The same cross-section

the same cross-section all along its

all along its length.

Prism

length.

3) The relationships between:

(a) Cube and cuboid,
CUBE

CUBOID

(a) The dimensions of a cube are

(a) The dimensions of a cuboid are

length, breadth and height.

(b) All the edges of a cube are equal.
(c) Volume of a cube
= length x breadth x height

length, breadth and height.

(b) Volume of a cube
= length x breadth x height

(b) Cylinder and prism.

CYLINDER

PRISM

(a) A cylinder has 3 edges and no

(a) A shape that has the same cross-

corners.
(b) It has 2 circular ends of equal size.

section all along its length.

(b) No curved sides.

20

4) Definition of polygon and classifications of polygons according to

number of sides.
Definition of polygon.
A polygon is a two-dimensional figure consisting of at least 3 vertices
(points) and at least 3 sides (straight segments) such that:
1) each vertex is the endpoint of exactly 2 sides
2) each pair of vertices are the endpoints of exactly one side
3) if 2 sides intersect then their intersection is a vertex.
Is it a Polygon?
Polygons are 2-dimensional shapes. They are made of straight lines,
and the shape is "closed" (all the lines connect up).

Polygon

Not a Polygon

Not a Polygon

(straight sides)

(has a curve)

(open, not closed)

Polygon comes from Greek. Poly- means "many" and -gon means
"angle".

Types of Polygons
Simple or Complex
A simple polygon has only one boundary, and it doesn't cross over
itself. A complex polygon intersects itself!

21

Simple Polygon

Complex Polygon

(this one's a Pentagon)

(also a Pentagon)

Concave or Convex
A convex polygon has no angles pointing inwards. More precisely, no
internal angles can be more than 180.
If there are any internal angles greater than 180 then it is concave.
(Think: concave has a "cave" in it)

Convex

Concave

Regular or Irregular
If all angles are equal and all sides are equal, then it is regular,
otherwise it is irregular

22

Regular

Irregular

More Examples

Complex

Polygon

(a "star polygon", in Concave Octagon Irregular Hexagon

this case, a pentagram)

Classifications of Polygons
These terms classify a polygon by the number of sides. In fact, the common
names of polygons with 3 to 10 sides are:

#sides

name

triangle

quadrilateral

pentagon

hexagon

heptagon

examples

23

octagon

nonagon

10

decagon

You may be surprised that an object

like this is called a pentagon:
We

are

accustomed

to

seeing

pentagons that look like this:

Both these figures are polygons with 5 sides according to our definition. What
is peculiar about the first figure is it "caves in" at the top. Such a polygon is
called concave. In fact, a definition of "concave" is this:

DEFINITION: A polygon is concave if there are two points somewhere inside it

for which a segment with these as its endpoints cuts at least 2 of the sides of
the polygon.

For

is concave, because the segment with points

example,

A and B as its endpoints cuts two sides:

A polygon that is not concave is called convex. Some important theorems that
apply only to convex polygons will be stated in the next lesson.
Regular Polygons
A special kind of convex polygon is called a regular polygon:
24

DEFINITION: A regular polygon is a convex polygon in which all sides are

congruent.
Another way to define a regular polygon is to state that its sides are congruent
and its angles are congruent. If a polygon is not regular, then it is called
irregular.
Examples:
Concave Polygons:

Convex, Irregular Polygons:

Regular Polygons:

Properties of n-sided polygons for 3

NAME

Triangle
(or Trigon)
Quadrilateral
(or Tetragon)

SIDES(n)

3
4

Pentagon

Hexagon

25

10.

SHAPE

Heptagon
(or Septagon)

Octagon

Polygon Names
Generally accepted names
Sides

Name

N-gon

Triangle

Quadrilateral

Pentagon

Hexagon

Heptagon

Octagon

Names of Polygons
Name

Sides

Angles

Triangle

Quadrilateral

Pentagon

Hexagon

Heptagon

Octagon

26

Nonagon

Tutorial 5.1:
3. When flipping a coin, there are only two possible outcomes: a heads or a
tails. So, we say that the probability of getting a heads is one out of two, that
is . When you sit for the examination at the end of this semester, there say that
the probability of you passing the examination is also ? If yes, why? If no,
why not?
4. A person in a small foreign town applies for a marriage permit at age 18. To
obtain the permit, the person is handed six strings, as shown in Figure (a). On
one side (top or bottom) the ends are picked randomly, two at a time, and tied,
forming three separate knots. The same procedure is then repeated for the other
set of string ends, forming three more knots, as in Figure (b) . If the strings form
one closed ring, as in Figure (c), the person obtains the permit.

(d) Do you think the probability of the person getting the marriage permit is higher
or lower that the probability of not getting the permit?
(e) Carry out an experiment to check your guess in (a).
(f) Determine the theoretical probability that the marriage permit will be obtained

on the first try.

5.1 probability / kebarangkalian

1. No, passing the examination is depends on our own preparation before
exam. I must work smart to pass this coming exams
2a. Probability of the person getting the marriage permit is lower than the
probability of not getting the permit.
27

2b.
A
A
B
C
D
E
F

G
H
I
J
K
L

2c. formula getting marriage permit is

28