Strategy 1: Make a table or an Organized List

In this strategy, data or information are organized by listing them or recording them in tables.
The data are then analyzed to discover relationships and patterns and to draw out generalizations or
solutions to the problem. Using this strategy provides the pupils an opportunity to practice constructing
tables. Collecting information, and recording them in tables where they decide the number of columns,
rows, and labels. This strategy is often used in conjunction with the strategy of finding patterns, making
a simpler problem, and even guess and check.

Let’s Try These

Problem #1

Each one – Ann, Enya, Alvin and Johnny have different favorite color among red, blue, green and
orange. No person’s name contains the same number of letters as his/her favorite color. Alvin and the
boy who likes blue live in different parts of town. Red is the favorite color of one of the girls. What is
each person’s favorite color?

What do we know?

- No person’s name contains the same number of letters as his/her favorite color.
- Alvin and the boy who likes blue live in different parts of town.
- Red is the favorite color of one of the girls.

What do we want to know?

Each person’s favorite color

The best strategy to use to pair the person’s name with his/her favorite color is logical reasoning
or elimination. However, without the of a table. It would be a bit difficult especially if more items are to
be paired.

Let’s solve the problem clue by clue, placing a “/” or an “X” on appropriate squares to signify
possibility or impossibility of the paring.
Clue #1: No person’s name contains the same number of letters as his/her favorite color.

We simply count the letters of the names and the colors to determine this.

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X
Enya X
Alvin X
Johnny X

Clue #2: Alvin and the boy who likes blue live in different parts of town.

This means that Alvin’s Favorite color is NOT blue

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X
Enya X
Alvin X X
Johnny X

If further means that it’s a boy who like blue but since there are only two boys and Alvin doesn’t
like it. Then it must be Johnny who likes blue.

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X
Enya X
Alvin X X
Johnny / X

Since it’s Johnny who likes blue. Then blue cannot be the favorite color of Ann and Johnny no longer
likes red and orange.

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X X
Enya X
Alvin X X
Johnny X / X X
Clue #3: Red is the favorite color of one of the girls.

The table above shows that red is not the favorite color of Ann. Since it’s the favorite color of
one of the girls. Then it must be Enya who likes it.

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X X
Enya / X
Alvin X X
Johnny X / X X

If Enya Likes red, then she doesn’t like green and orange and red is no longer the favorite color
of Alvin.

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X X
Enya / X X X
Alvin X X X
Johnny X / X X

In the table above, green is not the favorite of Enya, Alvin and Johnny so it must be the favorite
color of Ann. That leaves orange as the favorite color of Alvin.

Red Blue Green Orange

Ann X X / X
Enya / X X X
Alvin X X X /
Johnny X / X X

Therefore, the favorite color of each person is: Ann-green, Enya-red, Alvin-orange and Johnny-blue.
Problem #2

The first few times lines of the Christmas song Twelve Days of Christmas says:
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree, and so on.
In all, how many gifts were sent by the true love to his lover from the first day to the twelfth day
of Christmas?

This popular song is often sung during Christmas Season without it being considered a potential
mathematical problem. When given as a problem, the most usual approach is to simply add 1 + 2 + 3 +
and so on up to 12. Which is of course incorrect.

To make our presentation clear, let us solve the problem by using a table to show the gifts sent
during the first three days. We then, use the pattern to solve the problem.

Day Gift Total

1 1 partridge 1
2 2 turtle doves + 1 partridge 2+1
3 3 french hens + 2 turtle doves + 1 partridge 3+2+1
And so on until the 12th day

It shows that our solution would be:

= 1 + (1 + 2) + (1 + 2 + 3) + … + (1 + 2 + 3 + … + 11 + 12). That is.

= (12 x 1) + ( 11 x 2) + (10 x 3) + (9 x 4) + (8 x 5) + (7 x 6) + (6 x 7) + (5 x 8) + (4 x 9) + (3 x 10) + (2 x 11) +

(1 x 12)

= (12 + 22 + 30 + 36 + 40 + 42) + (42 + 40 + 36 + 30 + 22 + 12)

= 2(12 + 22 + 30 + 36 + 40 + 42)

= 2(182)

= 364

There were 364 gifts sent during the twelve days of Christmas.
Strategy 2: Draw a Diagram, Picture, or Model

Drawing a diagram, picture or a model is one of the most helpful strategies for understanding a
problem and of obtaining ideas for a solution. Learners represent a problem situation with a sketch
drawing to help them see the relationships and connections among the components of the problem.
Translating a problem scenario into a drawing or using a picture or model helps learners visualize the
problem situation which may successfully lead to the desired solution. Students are encouraged to draw
only the essential details that would make the problem clearer and easier to understand.

The use of drawing provides a method for organizing information that could lead to the selection
of another problem-solving strategy. Another strength of this heuristic is its wide range of application as
it may be utilized in any problem and by any age bracket of learners. Moreover, learners who are
artistically intelligent, though in their mathematical class, may find an avenue to showcase their talent
which would somehow be their source of pride if recognized by the teacher.

Let’s solve these!

Problem #1

Jade Bought eight old coins from Andrew. Andrew told Jade, “these eight old coins look alike but
one is slightly heavier than the other coins. I will give you these old coins for free if by using a balance
scale. You can determine the heavier one in exactly 3 weighing.” Jade was so happy to take home her
home her free old coins. How did she do it?

What do we Know?

- There are eight coins which look alike

- One weighs heavier
- Only by using a balance scale the heavier one be identified

What do we want to know?

How to identify the heavier one using a balance scale three times only.

This problem may be solved by acting out. However, using drawing can be more convenient without
sacrificing the clarity of the process.

We start by representing the 8 old coins with small circles number 1 to 8.

First Weighing:

Group the old Coins into two groups by placing coins 1 -4 at the left of the balance scale and coins
at the right.

If the left side of the scale goes down, then the heavier coin is among coins 1 – 4. If the right side
goes down, then the heavier one is among coins 5 – 8.

Second Weighing:

Assuming that the left side of the balance scale goes down. Then we separate coins 1, 2, 3 and 4 and place
them on the opposite ends of the balance scale.

.
Third Weighing:

Let’s assume, this time, that the right side of the balance goes down. Then the heavier coins is
between 3 and 4. Finally, we place 3 and 4 on opposite sides of the balance scale.

If the left side goes down, then coin 3 is the heavier marble. On the other hand, if the right side goes
down, then it’s coin 4 which is the heavier one. So, in three weighing, we were able to identify the heavier
coin among eight coins.

Problem #2

Carmela celebrated her Birthday party in a private home’s poolside garden. It was attended y 30
persons. If each person shook hands with each of the others exactly once, then how many handshakes
took place?

Through using drawing makes this problem much clearer to understand. Yet it would be too much
work to make too many drawings. So, we only represent the first few handshakes with drawing then
discover a pattern using the data organized through a table.

Let’s use A, B, C, D and E to represent Persons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Two Persons: Three Persons:

Four Persons: Five Persons:

 Based on the drawings, we can actually count the number of handshakes that take place if there
are two to five persons. If we study carefully, we can even already see a pattern.

In the first drawing, there are two persons. Each person shakes hand once, so 2 x 1. However, if
we actually count, there is only one handshake that takes place. In the second drawing. There are 3
persons, each person shakes hand twice, so 3 x 2. But if we count, there are only 3 handshakes. For four
persons, each shakes hand three times, so 4 x 3, but there are only 6 handshakes. Finally, each of the five
persons shakes hand four times, that is 5 x 4, but there are only 10 handshakes.

It is now obvious that:

Total number of handshakes = (Number of persons x Number of persons minus 1)/2

if n = number of person, then

Number of handshakes = n(n-1)/2

Number of Persons 2 3 4 5 n 30
Number of Handshakes 1 3 6 10

Applying it to the original number, we have

= n(n-1)/2

=30(30-1)/2

=30(29)/2

=435

There were 435 handshakes which took place in the party.

Strategy 3: Guess and Check

Also Known as Guess, Check, Revise and Trial and Error. This strategy is a primitive way to solve
problems. Although unconsciously at times, this strategy had been used for years. Children and even
adults, have a natural affinity for this strategy and should be encouraged to use it when appropriate.

It is not only useful across age groups, using the strategy also helps improve one’s number sense
as process of repeated guessing and checking makes one aware of the correctness or incorrectness of
his/her answers or whether the answer is close to or still far from the correct one. Moreover, good
exposure to this strategy enhances one’s skill in estimation.

Though using this strategy may be time consuming as it does not always yield a correct solution
immediately, however, it provides information that can be used to better understand the problem.

To use the guess-check strategy, one follows these steps:

a. Making a logical guess at the answer. The student, in the process of guessing, learns more
about the problem.
b. Checking the guess. Does it satisfy the problem?

It is important that computation is accurate to avoid wastage of time and effort by making
more guesses when in fact, the solution might have found some guesses before.

Use of logical reasoning may be of great help to minimize the number of trials.

c. Using the information obtained in checking to make another guess I necessary. The student
is left to make his guess skip around so he can bracket the right answer.

As to whether the next guess would be smaller or a bigger number depends on how good
the skill of the learner is in estimating and logical thinking.

d. Counting the procedure until the correct answer is obtained.

Obviously, when students get to employ this strategy often, they at the same time
improve their computational, estimation, and logical reasoning skills which are very useful in
problem solving.
Problem #1

Mang Thomas owns goats and ducks. Counting heads there are 39, Counting legs there are 110.
How many goats and how many ducks has Mang Thomas?

What do we know?

There are 39 animals; these animals have 110 legs

Each goat has 4 legs while ducks has 2 legs

What do we want to know?

How many of each kind of animal are there?

For this kind of problem. Guess and check is the most appropriate strategy to use. Using a table
to organize the process would be much help. Also, for Guess and Check to be more effective, one has to
use his number sense or logical reasoning to come up with a guess that is, if not correct, would at least
yield an answer which is close to the correct one.

We can start by choosing a number for both goats and ducks which are close to each other, at the
same time easy to use since we are only making estimating anyway so let’s have 20 goats and 19 ducks
first.

First Guess

Heads Legs
Goats 20 20 x 4 = 80
Ducks 19 19 x 2 = 38
39 118

Since 118 is more than 110, then we can decrease the number of goats. Let’s try 16 goats and 23
ducks.

Heads Legs
Goats 16 16 x 4 = 64
Ducks 23 23 x 2 = 46
39 110
Our answer is now correct so Mang Thomas has 16 goats and 23 ducks.
Problem #2

In the world Math Competition held in Bulgaria. The contestants were given ten items to be solved
in four hours. Five points were given for each correct answer and two points were deducted for each
wrong answer. Albert did all questions and scored 29, how many correct answers did he have?

What do we know?

- There are 10 items; each correct answer is worth 5 points; each wrong answer means a
deduction of 2 points.

What do we want to know?

The number of correct answers.

To guide us on our first guess, let’s find the maximum and minimum possible score values and
bracket the correct one. If all 10 answers were correct, the score would be 10 x 5 = 50pts. While if ther
were all wrong, then the score would be 10 x -2 = -20. Since the score is 29, then is it closer to 50 than to
-20. It means, there are more correct than wrong answers. To prove, we go for the middle. Granting that
half of the items were correctly answered. It means that half were incorrect. The score would be (5 x 5) –
( 5 x 2)= 25 – 10 = 15. Fifteen is less than 29.

Let’s now try 7 correct and 3 incorrect answers.

(7 x 5) – (3 x 2) = 35 – 6 = 29

Since the answer is 29, therefore, albert had 7 correct answers.

Strategy #4: Logical Reasoning or elimination

Logical reasoning is the ability to foresee implications beyond decisions. It is a very useful
strategy which may be used in all problem-solving situations. It may also be used together with other
strategies like Guess and Check, draw a Diagram, and Find a Pattern, to name a few, it is a skill that helps
the learner get more engaged in his/her own learning and promotes making the correct decisions.

Moreover, the strategy of elimination is commonly used by people in everyday life. In a

problem-solving context, pupils list and then eliminate possible solutions based upon information
presented in the problem. The act of selecting a problem-solving strategy is an example of the
elimination process. It can result in the elimination of incorrect answers, particularly in “if-then”
situations, and in problems with a listable number of possible solutions. In instances when the pupil has
many options to choose from, he/she may start by eliminating choices that are obviously wrong. By
doing this, he/she narrows down the choices which make it a lot easier for him/her to make the final
decision.

In general, answering problems requires a student to evaluate outcomes and implications by

making a decision.

Problem #1

I am thinking of a two-digit number.

It is odd.

Its tens digit is even.

It is prime.

The sum of its digit is 11.

The product of its digit is 24.

What number am I thinking of?

What do we know?

- The number has two digits. And five other clues are provided wherein if considered one by
one will lead to the answer.

What do we want to know?

- The two-digit number which fits the descriptions provided.

 This is a classic problem that can be solved using elimination. To solve, we consider one clue at a
time, eliminating the number that no longer qualify as a solution.

Clue #1: It has two digits.

Possible answers: 10, 11, 12, …, 97, 98, 99

Clue #2: It is odd.

Possible answers: 11, 13, 15, …, 95, 97, 99

Clue #3: the tens-digit is even.

Possible answers: 21, 23, 25, …, 85, 87, 89

Clue #4: It is a Prime number.

Possible answers: 23, 29, 41, 43, 47, 61, 67, 83, 89

Clue #5: The sum of its digit is 11.

Possible answers: 29, 47, 83

Clue #6: The product of its digits is 24.

Possible answer: 83

After going through all the clues and eliminating numbers that do not fit the given descriptions,
the final and only number left is 83. It means that 83 is the two-digit prime number which is odd, whose
tens digit is even, that sum of its digit is 11 and the product of its digits is 24.

Problem #2

During the university week Celebration. The Sports Club organized a Dart Competition. It was
announced that each dart that lands in a region of the target may score the following points: 2, 4, 6, 8 and
10. Each competitor is allowed to throw five darts at the target. Which of the following total scores are
not possible?

6, 14, 17, 38, 42, 57

What do we know?

- A competitor is allowed to throw five darts.

- A dart may earn 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 points.
- A dart may land on the same region more than once.
What do we want to know?

- Which of 6, 14, 17, 38, 42 and 57 are not possible scores?

Logically, we first think of the minimum and maximum possible scores any competitor may garner.

Minimum: If all 5 darts land in the 2-point area, the score would be 5 x 2 = 10.

Obviously, a score of 6 is not possible.

Maximum: if all 5 darts land in the 10-point area, the score would be 5 x 10 = 50.

This time, a score of 57 is not possible.

Since all possible points a dart may score are even numbers, then, a total score which is odd is not
possible. It means that 17 is not a possible score.

That leaves 14, 38 and 42 as possible scores and this can be checked by looking for at least a
combination of points that will give this total. Let’s take 14 first.

14 = four 2 points + one 6 points

=8+6

38 = three 10 points + one 2 points + one 6 point

= 30 + 2 + 6

42 = four 10 points + one 2 points

= 40 + 2

We may use an organized list to determine all the combinations of points that total 14, 38 and 42.
Strategy #5: Act Out

Some word problems are best solved when students act out the situation. When one experiences
difficulty in visualizing a problem or the procedure necessary for its solution. Physically acting out the
situation would be of great help. One may use people or objects. Although it might be time-consuming
and may need more materials, yet doing it can bring many benefits to the whole class and to individual
students. For one, it may enliven class discussion and eliminate boredom as excitement may build up as
students get to interact as they act out or dramatize some problems.

Acting out can have the same effect as drawing a picture. What’s more, acting out the problem
might disclose incorrect assumptions being made. Using this strategy, students visualize and stimulate the
actions describe in the problem. It makes the relationship between variables and components clearer as
they experience how the problem goes. It may itself lead one to the answer, or it may lead one to find
another strategy that will help find the answer. Pupil’s creativity in presenting the series of actions as they
act out may be helpful in visualizing the problem at hand.

Problem #1

There are 39 children in a classroom. The teacher assigned each one a number from 1 to 39. She
then told them to stand. Next, she said: all those whose number is odd sit down. The children followed.
Then she again assigned those who are standing the numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on up to the last child. Then
she said: those whose number is odd sit down.

At this point, how many children remain standing?

What do we know?

- There are 39 children.

What do we want to know?

- The number of children who remain standing after a series of instructions from the teacher.

If there is enough

If there is enough students and if there is sufficient time and space, this problem can best be
executed through acting out. To do that. We assign 39 students a number each, from 1 to 39, have them
stand, then let those whose number is odd sit. By this time, it will be obvious that 20 will sit and 19 remain
standing. Then, the remaining 19 will again be assigned numbers 1 to 19. If those whose numbers are odd
will sit, then the only ones standing will be 9 children as 10 will sit.

There will be nine children who remain standing.

Problem #2

A coach for table tennis has the following players: April, May, June, Julio and Agusto. How many
Different two player doubles team can be formed from the players in the team?

What do we know?

- There are five players.

- Teams of two players each will be formed.

What do we want?

- The number of two player doubles team that can be formed.

If being solved in a class, the best strategy to use is acting out as it will clearly show the students
the possible pairing of the five players. Using drawing or diagram are appropriate strategy to use too.

To act out, 5 students may be asked to stand in front of the class to represent the five players.
Then show that player 1 may be paired with all other players, that is

April & May,

April & June,

April & Julio,

April &Agusto,

Then pair May with all the others except April since their pair was already counted. So May will
have.

May & June,

May & Julio,

May & Agusto,

To continue we have,

June & Julio,

June & Agusto,

And finally

Julio & Agusto,

To sum up, there are 10 possible two player doubles team.

Strategy #6: Find the Pattern.

A pattern is a regular systematic repetition which often occurs in problems where there is a
progression of data. Patterns may be numerical, verbal, spatial/visual, patterns in time or patterns in
sound.

When students use this problem-solving strategy, they are encouraged to analyze patterns in data
by decoding rules that create the pattern and make predictions and generalizations based on their
analysis. The rules or formulas developed or discovered point to the solution. Students then check the
generalization against the information in the problem and possibly make a prediction from, or extension
of, the given information.

By identifying the pattern, one can predict what will come next and when will happen again and
again in the same way. Looking for patterns is a very important strategy for problem solving. It is used to
solve many different kinds of problems. Sometimes one can solve a problem just by recognizing a pattern,
but often he or she will have to extend a pattern to find a solution. Making a table often reveals patterns
and for this reason it is frequently used in conjunction with this strategy.

Problem #1

Dots are arranged in triangular patterns as shown below.

Triangle 1 Triangle 2 Triangle 3

a. Draw the pattern of dots for Triangles 4 and 5.

b. How many dots are there in 7th pattern?
c. Come up with a rule of formula to determine the number of dots in the nth pattern.

a. If we continue the pattern, Triangles 4 and 5 would look like the following:

Triangle 4 Triangle 5
 b. To determine the number if dots in the 7th pattern and in the nth pattern, we construct a table
this way:

Pattern 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 n
Number of Dots 1 3 6 10 15

Observe that the number of dots from a pattern such as 1,3,6,10,15 and so on. There is
one dot in the first pattern. To get the number of dots in the second pattern, we add 2 to 1 which
makes it 3. To get the number of dots in the 3 rd pattern, add 3 to 3 to get 6. To get the number of
dots in the 4th pattern, add 4 to 6 to make 10. It means, we are adding 2,3,4,5, and so on to the
number of dots to get to the next. Therefore, the 6th pattern has 15 (5th pattern) + 6 = 21 dots; the
7th pattern has 21 + 7 = 28 dots.

Pattern 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 n
Number of Dots 1 3 6 10 15 21 28

c. By analyzing the data presented in the table, a rule may be formulated to find the number of dots
in the nth pattern, that is

Number of dots in the nth pattern =

Problem #2

Natural numbers are arranged in a triangular shape shown below. Of the pattern continues, what
number is third from the left in the 50th row?

1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
.
.
.

What do we know?

- Natural numbers from 1,2,3 and so are arranged this way: 1 in the first row, 2,3 and 4 in the
second row 5,6,7,8 and 9 in the third row, and so on. It means, one number in the first row,
three numbers in the second row, five numbers in the third row and so on.
What do we want to know?

- The number found third from left in the 50th row.

This problem is surely very challenging except for those who can easily find the pattern. Seeing the first
number in the first row, the next three in the second row, the next five in the third row, and so on is easy
to spot. If the number being ask for is small, we may simply continue writing the numbers until we reach
it. However, it would be too much for us to write all those 50 rows of numbers, the reason that we have
to find another pattern that will lead us to the solution the easiest way possible.

Row 1 2 3 4 5
Rightmost number 1 4 9 16
Is it now obvious that the rightmost numbers are squares of the row number? It means that the
last number in the 50th row is 502 or 2500. However, what we are looking for is the third from the left of
the 50th row. To do that easily, we will find the last number in the 49 th row and simply count from three
until we reach the third number of the next row, that is, the last number in the 49th row is 492 or 2401. It
means that the first number in the 50 th row is 2402, the second number is 2403 and the third number is
2404.

So, the third number from the left in the 50th row is 2404.
Strategy #7: Work Backward
There are problems that give the end results of the situation and ask about the initial conditions
or something that occurred earlier. One way to solve this type of problem is to work backward from a
known result to find a fact at the beginning. Furthermore, this is a strategy that contains a series of actions
that are better understood and clarified by working backward from the end to a desired action sequence.
The inverse of each of the operations is used along the way.

In most cases, the problems that can be solved using this strategy may also be solved using algebra
or equation method. However, the more operations/steps are involved, the more complicated the process
gets. Moreover, many people, including most elementary pupils, are not yet ready to use algebra to solve
word problems. That leaves them no option but to use working backward or sometimes guess and check.

To use this strategy, the following the steps may be followed:

1. Make a mathematical sentence following the sequence of operations from the beginning to
the end result as stipulated in the problem, use a variable or a box for the unknown.
2. Using the number sentence in Step 1, make a reversed mathematical sentence, that is,
starting from the end result to the beginning, this time, reversing all operations used.
3. Solve or do the operations.
4. Check. Replace the variable with the answer then solve forward.

Problem #1:

Miriam went to the mall to shop. She went to a store, spent half of her money and then P500
more. She went to a second store, spent half of her money and then P500 more. She then had no money
left. How much money did she have to begin with when she went to the first store?

What do we know?

- Half of the money and P500 more were spent on the first store, then half of the remaining
amount and P500 more were spent on the second store. She has no money left after buying
from the second store.

What do we want to know?

- The amount of money Miriam had before she went to the first store.

Notice that it’s the starting number we are looking for. In case, we can solve the problem by
working backward. To work backward. We first set up the equation using a variable or a box to represent
the starting number.
 To get half of the amount, we simply divide the number by 2. Since she spent P500 more, then
we just subtract 500. So, the equation would be:

÷ 2 – 500 ÷ 2 – 500 = 0

To work backward, we solve from the right, using the inverse operations in the process. The new
equation would be:

0 ÷ 500 x 2 ÷ 500 x 2 =

So = 3000,

We can check our answer by working forward.

3000 ÷ 2 – 500 ÷ 2 – 500 = 0

1500 – 500 ÷ 2 – 500 = 0

1000 ÷ 2 – 500 = 0

500 – 500 = 0

0=0

Therefore, Meriam started with P3000.

Problem #2

Jarvy sells apples. He sold half his apples plus half an apple last Monday. Then he sold half his
remaining apples plus half an apple last Tuesday. Again, he sold half of his remaining apples plus half an
apple on Wednesday. He then sold the remaining 27 apples on Thursday. How many apples did Jarvy start
with?

In the problem, there are only two operations to be used: division by 2 (to get “half of the apples
sold”) and addition by ½ (plus half an apple). So using a box to represent the number of apples Jarvy
started with, we set up our number sentence this way:

Mon Tues Wed Thur

÷ 2 – 1/2 + 2 – 1/2 + 2 - 1/2 - 27 = 0

To work backward, we use the inverse operations along the way.

Thur: 0 + 27 = 27

Wed: 27 + 1/2 = 27 ½, 27 ½ x 2 = 55

Tue: 55 + ½ = 55 ½: 55 ½ x 2 = 111

Mon: 111 + ½ = 111 ½: 111 ½ x 2 = 223

It means that Jarvy started with 223 apples.

Strategy 8: Simplify the Problem

This strategy is often used along with other problem-solving strategies. When a problem I too complex
to solve in one step. It often helps to divide it into simpler problems and solve each one separately. Also,
when solving difficult problems with large numbers and complicated patterns that require a series of
actions, a simpler but similar problem may be worked on first, then the pattern or the solution is applied
to solve the original problem. Creating a simpler problem from a more complex one may evolve rewording
the problem: using smaller, simpler numbers: or using a more familiar scenario to understand the problem
and find the solution. Some helpful tips when using this strategy are:

a. Helping pupils think about the information given and what they need to find:
b. Clarifying new or unfamiliar terms and confusing conditions or requirements:
c. Letting them break the problem into manageable parts and encourage them to answer one
question first before they proceed to the next: and
d. Restating the problem in their own words for greater understanding.

Problem Solving #1

Find the difference when the sum of the first 100 positive odd integers is subtracted from the sum
of the first 100 positive even integers.

When written as an expression, the problem would look like this.

(2 + 4 + 6 + … + 198 + 200) – (1 + 3 + 5 + … + 197 + 199)

We can spend the whole day solving this problem if we use the long method. We can, however,
solve this fast by starting with a simpler version, find the pattern that emerges, develop a rule, then use
the rule to solve the original problem.

Starting with the difference between the first 2 positive odd and even integers. We have

Even: 2 + 4

Odd: 1 + 3

1+1

Let’s jump to the first 5 positive odd and even integers.

Even: 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10

Odd: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9

1+1+1+1+1
 Do you now see the pattern? Yes, if each positive even integer is subtracted by its corresponding
positive odd integer, the difference would always be 1. Since there are 100 pairs of odd and even integers.
The difference would be 100 ones or 100.

The answer, then is 100.

Problem #2

Find two whole numbers whose product is 1,000,000. Neither of the two numbers has any zeros
in it.

Actually, we are simply looking for a pair of factors of 1 000 000, each of which does not contain
a digit 0. 1 000 000 is quite a big number but we can start with smaller numbers, find a pattern, develop
a rule, then apply the rule to solve the original number.

We know that

10 = 2 x 5;

100 = 4 x 25 or 22 x 52;

1000 = 8 x 125 or 23 x 53; and

10 000 = 16 x 625 or 24 x 54

Observe that in the numbers at the left (powers of 10), the number of zeros after 1 corresponds
to the exponents of their factors which bases are 2 and 5. For example in 10, there is one zero after 1, so
the exponent of 2 and 5 are 1; In 100, there are two zeros after 1 and the exponent of each od 2 and 5 is
also 2.

Therefore, since there are 6 zeros in 1 000 000 then its factors which do not contain any zeros are
2 and 56 which are 64 and 15 625.
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