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INA NUTSHELL The main ideas in the chapter are listed below: 1. Teaching through problem solving is the natural approach to teaching for those who believe that students learn best by confronting ideas that Fequire them to establish new connections for themeves “There isa set of problem-zolving strategies, oF approaches, that ace often developed independ cently by children; it canbe valuable to introduce these strategies exit 3. Some problem-solving strategies are more nat ural to younger students than others, but those strategies continue tobe valuable throughout those students’ mathematical growth Chapter 3 Focus on Problem Solving Tunas 738 in quarters. simes.ondnchels | ena leet one a each typeof cain, Howmany cane could ahve? ‘Making Math Meaningful to Canadian tadents KB Teaching through Problem Solving “Tateachshrough prblem solving. the teacher provides a conseR.OCSAS09 {rc the learning by beginning the lesson witha pro ae later drawing out any necessary puocedunes. This approach consss the more iaitions/ approach of presenting pew procedure and only en offering a few problems for students to solve Resnick (1987) poims out that teaching in this way helps scdenis become adaptable to new situations, for example, new work environsne™™, in their later life. This is ikely because sradents get much more to mathematize realife situations. Some of the ways teaching through problem solving differs frome traditional approach include an increased level of mathematical dialogue berween students | che teacher's role asa guide or coach more than as a presenter =the teacher's more judicious use of intervention "A compelling discussion of the importance and efficacy of teaching: through problem solving describes Lampert’s year-long journey teaching. {Grade 5 mathematics through problem solving (Lampert, 2002), Why Teach through Problem Solving? “There are many other reasons for teaching through problem solving: 1. Themath makes more sens. ‘When the problem isa "real life" one, stadents have the chance to Dull essenial connections between what the maths, why is needed, and how tis applied a. Aprble sling approach provide he teacher with Bete insight into srdent?mathematcl king. $Xproblem solving approach provides the teacher with useful infor ston wo improve his or her mathematical inceractions with st dante, The teacher is abe to see how eflectivelyseudents can reach {ino thelr “mathematial tol box” to choose the right tools, as well hace how efecively they can use those tools. s.Prolems are more mtiating when they are more of challenge ‘Although some stents are comfortable with being told how to do fomething and then doing over and over, many donot enjoy this Spproach, Masrstudents prefer a*anageable challenge, «Problem sovin bids perseverance Many seadens think that if they cannot answer a math question Instantly, tis too hard. Through problem-solving experience, they ‘build up a willingness to persevere at solving a problem, f s. Problem solving bls confeence, maximizes he potential for understand {ng an ellows fr dirences in syle and approach. Padblem solving allows each individual the opportunity to create or her own path through the mathematics. a a ed 4 Problems can prove practice, both with concept and with sil ‘Many good problems have the potential wo ensue that students learn Concepas and also have the opportuni to practise valuable sills 7A profi saving approach provides students with beter sg tnathematis ial abou Math requires che same kin of struggle as does creating a new piece aia rng ora new work of art. Most rich problems invite many i to what Chapter Focus on Problem Sling Possible solution strategies, and some ae even designed to encour 8 many posible answers This notin of creativity or coc in ‘mathematic will not make sense to someone who has not strugsled ‘on his or her own to ‘try to solve a mathematical problem. 8 Students need to practise role sling. fd ‘goal of mathematics education is to enable students to con- front ew situations involving mathematics, then they must practise tis. Students need many opportunities to practise problem solving tobe able to do so independently, The Inquiry Process |Inmany jurisdictions, itis expected that significant part ofthe science and math curriculums be taught using an inquiry proces o solve problems Stages of the Inquiry Process ‘A wellAnown inquiry model, eveloped by George Bola (1957), inches the following four sages ‘Stage 1: Understand the problem Stage 2: Make a plan Stage 3: Carry out che plan Suge 4 Look back ‘The ubderstand-the;problem stage is often stumbling block for st dents, as it involves discerning whether ll the necessary information is rovided and f extraneous information is included. Iti important to pro: ‘ide sufficient supporto ensure that students understand the problem. ‘The look-back stage involves checking to se ifn answer i reasonable and, where applicable, determining another answer forthe problem Each tage ofthe inquiry proces involves certain level of communica: ‘on or reflection about the mathematics thatis being used. Students should be sharing ther thinking all stages with their peers What the Inquiry Process Looks Like ‘The following section provides an example of what each of these stages of the process might look like using the problem-solving strategy of drawing ‘picture. The example on the next page demonstrates how students can in- ‘crease their understanding ofa problem as they work through the solution, Providing Experiences inthe Inquiry Process By seeing a teacher and fellow students model these approaches, students become more comfortable with the problem-solving process, Sudens also learn tobe good problem solvers by + having many opportunites to solve many kinds of appropriate and richproblems « having a good sense of what is involved in the inguiry process * being exposed and learing rouse a variety of problem solving strategies that have proven to be fruitful when working through new «being encouraged to think about and talk about how they solve prob Jems (meta-cognitive activity) + working with others as they solve problems + creating their own problems ‘Making Mth Meaningtulto Canaan Students, K-8 ‘A Problem and Possible Solution See see A group of children wore boots to school. Some of them ‘wore mittens. The teacher counted 12 boots and 8 mit tens, How many children did not wear mittens? we figure out hove ‘Ramp more boot there manhan miters, ec gre out now mary Biden that would be There are 12 boots and ‘Bitters. Every child is ‘wearing 2 boots. Every child wearing mittens has 2 mittens Lev draw a picture to see how many extra Boots there are, Then we can figure cildren that would be “The answer makes sense iecouse if there were 6 children with boots, thats 64 6= 12 boots altogether Irthere were 2ehldren B sthout mittens, thats ya's B mites altogether. ‘Tere are A extra boots, But ityonly 2 era children. TRAPP RRR we ee ‘apts: Foes on olen Selig Characteristi ‘aracteristics of Good Problems A ie Patt of a teacher's role is creating good problems. A good diferent mas 4 student to think about mathematics ina slightly ee Leia it could have any of the following charac *Tequires a student to connect new id ns -d i inlrcrp new idea to previously learned ones meyer vany ways, often using different problem-solving ‘has many possible answers *piques curiosity “has personal meaning or relevance toa student has a creative element to it ‘The problem may have areablfe context, or it may be an interesting math- ematical station, Tech ues for Creating Good Problems iE ‘The “use-blanks" technique, for which + Pu the digits 1,2, 3,4, and 5 inthe boxes li You create a question with some of the ‘umbers missing ‘What ae the east and greatest possible answers) + Flow would you place the digits 67, and 8 inthe boxes 20. so thatthe products as closer 5 2s posible? (531, 69) (7 x06= 5.22] + Flow many pais of digits canbe putin the blanks so that the anzwerto 6" = isa whole number? 9) “The “whatif..” technique, for which +35 +5 x8 ~ 75 because ofthe order of operation rules. What ifthe {You create asization that isbased on rl were to add and subeact before you mulply and divide? What particular setof assumptions, and would che expression be worth? ‘hen challenge one ofthe premises by poring anew question (520) “The “rurnt-around” technique, in + Describe thre diferent pairs of numbers with a common fictor ‘which you give smadensthe answer of {nd ask them to work backward Tes 12, 18 60,2660, 200] The ancweris 45, Whats the question? [eg..9 X Sor 135 +3) + Write thre ations wih the same sum a 45 +38 (eg a6 + 37,35 + 48,25 ~ 58 Problem-Solving Strategies Mathematics educators have idee i of problemslvingsratees ae em prea obe weal in aproching a wide ay of problems “Tae potest aesebd over he ent ever Pages ‘ric enuorant to anders th the sae shoul be expt ds cone wee dena, preerebly afr comes up nary ecatse« cue Joven owe Thee vale in ating the states and egy le pete so tents can dca the strategies ane ed ogan The acbecomesa men for sent set om a ete pee an ars sare bow to proceed ee SSS ‘Making Math Meaningful Canadian students, Gon nced | Soive.a simpler problem | |+ Consider al passibilties.| + Consider extreme. cases | |+-Make on organized list| [= Werk backward Use logical reasoning | |+ Change your paint af —| Ee jes that suit par~ Students should also be encouraged to combine strategi ee ticular problems when necessary. For example, a student might Use or table to look for a number pattern. ore Students also need to recognize shat differen strategies can Be used different stages of the inquiry proces. For example, a student might draw @ picture to understand a problem, and then use another strategy t0 carry OU! the solution, Simpler Problem-Solving Strategies Everyone benefits from learning through their senses, and tis is particu- larly important for stadents at a young age. Thus, the actitout, ust~ ‘model, and drawa-picure strategies are particularly suited to young students, Srudents a this level ae often more open than older students to taking risks; for this reason, the guessand test strategy is also suitable. “These simple strategies continue to be useful to older scudents and adults aswel ‘Act it out Sadene itera “set out" the story af the problem. Sometimes the story i very straightforward, and other times more complex. ESE Ss ‘There are 4 students on each of 2 teams, At the end of the tour- ‘nament, students shake hands ‘with members of the other team, How many handshakes will there be? ‘Students might act out the problem in a systematic fashion: ‘Two teams of 4 students line up across from each other. Each student shakes hands with each student on the other team, beginning with the first student on the other team and shaking everyone's hand on the other team in order from left ta right. Someone keeps track of the number of handshakes. There are 16 handshakes, Chaouer 3: Foe on Problem Solving This setegy can be an be very much ike the actitont strategy, but rodents mod the problem by representing elements with simple, sealable mater = Acompany that makes bread haan ae eas sudent might use toothpicks to represent the Breadsticks to model the ew loge ea YOUt® design their problem. Notice that thi sdent has also approached the problem na thow ebread aide mrengefee” HERA way ‘make the outline ofa polygon What differen polygons an you I~ make with 8 bread sticks? i 1 SY “1 used 8 toothpicks. know I can ‘make on octagon Because It has 8 ides. /\ Lx “I need at least 3 sides to make polygon. ‘This isthe only triangle | can make.” ' eee EN LN “Here are some quactilaterals: Cat Gao Kon? Se “Hare re some with 5,6 and ies Ursa made on with 8 ies and Tinou 3 ies isimpossible" : “1 kxow I can make a rangle, lot f quasars, a Sse shape hexagon, a Tosided shape, nd an oz2g0n. Ee Making Math Meaningful to Canadian Students, K-8 EE Draw a picture ‘This strategy is much like the use-a-model strategy, but students use @ ‘model, rather than a concrete model. Students can draw the actual object ora simple symbol to represent the object. Se Ie was geting dose tothe schoo 1 might use a calendar a graphic or ree ee ena Seger [ ee [ne [men semen e L at day i she bt Liens? Bo bo bo escnizane| aes BD [BGO [POP |a0 0030. peer On Mooday there were 16 mittens Perea meen SL as ae ‘Guess and test For this strategy, a student guesses an answer and then tests it wo see if the guess works IFirdoem', the student reves the “goess" based on ‘rhar was learned and tries again. Ths repetitive process continues Tina the answers found. Some students are able to think dhrough ‘Several guesses at once; others need to go one step ata time. Although ‘Sc often tak about guessing as bad, this strategy reinforces the value DFtaking risks and learning from the information hari garnered. "A sudent might guess and west several times, each time basing the guess “There are § more girls than boys sarream, Altogether, there are on the results ofthe previous guess: ie How many a boy as TAPP 5 bays and 13 gels ic IF people cot enough people 10 Lope and 1B gris sc 28 paople foo many people 7 boys ood 1S qi 1 22 geople sot axcush people & boys ond Ib ges is 24 people There are & boys. Emergent Strategies ‘As they marure mathematically, students use a broader range of patterns ea tool for learning, Therefore, iis appropriate to introduce @ pattern Srraregy to these students. This strategy continues tobe useful to students fas they move up the grades we 7 TH ow ‘Chaper 3:Focut om Problem Solving Ce Look for a pattern Because mathem: that wang ea 3 ful of patern, students oon learn ms isan effective way to solve problems, POSS We How many cans do you need to smake the sith sta mak he sath acini shape ‘A student could draw a picture (or use a counter model) ro figure out the number of cans in the fourth stack in order to be sure about the pattern and then use the pattern to figure out the number in the sith stack, lt Qed od 8 There's I inthe let shock 142 in the Ded stack, 1+2+3 in the Bed stock ond 1424344 in the ih stock. Thot maces le fh a Yhot there would be 14242444546 we the Sth stack L4D4344+546=21 There are Ol ve the bth stock AAs srudents become more familiar with the formal symbolism of math- ‘matics, they are more likely to solve problems using open sentences. They are also more ready to deal with strategies requiring organized thinking, such as using charts/tables and graphs. Use am open sentence ‘As students become more comfortable with the symbolic forms of ‘mathematical expressions, they can begin to model a problem with an ‘open sentence. Some mathematics educators might argue that this simply another form ofthe use--model strategy, bu this time the ‘model is mathematical rather than pictorial or concrete, Dag aaa Aaa aii yah eerie oesun cae and an empty 12-egg carton has problem by writing an open sentence that describes the problem ‘amass of about 25 Jaden is situation. carrying some cartons of eggs. ‘The total massis 5 kg. How many cartons ihe carrying? (continued) 1 NE eee Making Math Meaningful to Canaan Stents 8 The egpcn oon sacloe have 2 mass gf eae Moy 2 00, The carn 35 are Soe Al calon 6S5y Sasenaen eco [Eel a app A a a S000} auc ie ¥ a Sty sastasce fo fod od ee sono = 03s = a8 = 2 se #06952 5000 [ecm eciagg ‘Make a chart /table or graph Sometimes itis useful to organize daca ina chart/table ora graph. ‘This helps students keep track of disparate pices of information and helps them ensure that they consider many possiblities. Ce ‘Suppose you spin each spinner bbelow and add the two numbers ‘you spin, Which is more likely? {The sum will be less than 9 «The sum will be greater than 9. {gid paperto keep track of and show the results. |] dried o geoph wh The fos su < sum_uog_ exactly 9 but "A student might conduct a spinner experiment and shade a bar graph on PARR Rh ea WW a ew em Solves simpler poem atime the sth hough a role is ease if th mabe ae ore accessible, orsimpen. aoe POSSIBLE SOLUTION Tomthas3 dimesand nickels. A sudent might bepin with simpler problem ow mach money doe she ee mie Tit were 3 dimes ond 3 nickels. it would be We + I5¢ = We. But there are 6 more sicKels which is 3 dines, or 20¢ The money is worth WS¢ + 30¢ = 75¢ More Complex Problem-Solving Strategies As students develop even more analytic skills they are able to use organi zational strategies mote formally to ensure that no case is omitted. These students are also more ready to use logical reasoning and to work either for- ‘ward or backward, 2 ‘Tove te Raga tuden mst rele ht ere ce many “cases” or pousble anrwen, By being sytematein ig te case ths dent ile lyf lent someting uta ey, infact be able o “shortcut” the work Stadens fat canto Took hough the Kt and mia any redundancy, EE How many diferent products are A student might use an organized list to approach the problem possible when you multiply the systematically ‘numbers on t¥o dice? ‘Make slit, starting with 1, then % 2 and X 3, and 0 on. Check tomake sure nothing was missed, (Gross off any products that are the same, ‘Count the products tht are le 56230 bxesB Ss 1 There ore 18 A ee Making Math Meaningful to Canadian Students, K-8 Ci Consider all possibilities In many mathematical situations, students must consider a number of diferent possibilities to ensure that all aspects of the problem are dealt with. ‘SAMPLE PROBLEM eee "Asetoffive data values all hole student could create and ts all the possibilities to see ifthey follow ‘numbers up to 10, has a mode of __the clues provided in the problem: 8, amedian of , andamean of. «There are five values. “There are more than two 8s in the sESWhas cond astm akach (Tieton ee fos : SGrpindssmany answersazyou *The mean is 6 s0 the sum of he values is 40(5 * 8). can, «The mode and median are both 8 «The greatest value is 10 or less. q0g ae 4 ses 401 z Tien #2 Stare a Pw he wld 5 Foe ir eclon be be yTie lsh 2 oobers fave to oll g IIb eo ior -@ You conbnake Io th % el 10z 8 eres geo STE 93 A eae arn ws thes B é ny ‘Chapter 3: Focus on Problem Sting ‘Sometimes students can sok range Wve problems related to a range of values. ‘5 @ special case of considering all possibilities, Sa) You divide a 3-digit number by a digit number and get a whole Se ‘A student might consider the greateseand least possible answers: umber quotient How many, Divide the greatest -digit dividend by the least dg dvisoe forthe digo enh qe greatest quotient paca Divide the leat digit dividend by the greatest 1-digit divisor forthe Teast quotient. 999 + 100 +9 The quotient can have 2 or 3 digts eo logical reasoning Some people think of logical reasoning not so much asa problem- solving strategy, but as an aspect of mathematics that permeates all mathematical endeavours. However, others think oft a «serategy that is worthwhile to explicitly consider when faced with a mathematical problem Jonathan writes his name, “To solve the problem, a tdent might reason ‘one lester pet borin a square opagd Ee The same Jonathan hos & letters. 16 squares were weeded to put the last Me the bottom fight coreer becouse 16 ic 0 milla of F onl o aqicre number a ees eee (16 squaces car form 2 square grid) tThafala The amber of squares must be 0 square cunber. To it the letter J io the bottom right corer, i+ must also tlolafa fee See let ertee A square ounber that is | more thon © mulligle of & is Vina | allt D5(S Sis 2x E+ 2. so the gil coad be S by S ‘What size square grid isneeded = There ore other answers too forthe J tobe inthe botcom L ee right corner? 49 (7 7 is 6x 8 +1), s0 the grid could be 7 by = EV(Gx Fis 10x & +1). 50 the grid could be 9 by 9 Work backward Sometimes, by starting with the result, 1a student can work backward 10 ‘etermine information about the original situation. etiean “Aaron cut 0.5 m from a length of ‘wire. Then he cut what was left Jnto four equal pieces. each of the four pieces Was 1.25 m long, ‘what was the length ofthe wire before Aaron cutit? Poe adept could work backward by determining Be of the four ‘Aha Teng cut from the orignal piece of wire fand then adding the (05 m length back on. eS ‘Change your point of view Sometimes, students are there ere, In some cases, how ‘caleulate how many there are 20% "What isthe probability tha, when youroll two dice, you wil gta Jam that isthe result of adding ‘wo differen numbers? ied co calculate how many of something fever, a better approach might be to POSSIBLE SOLUTION "Astudent might determine the theoretical probability of Bening + Asad ie result of doubles, and then use this to determine the ar iy of gecing a sum thats theres of mon-doubles that's, {wo ferent numbers) {chapter 3: Foca on Problem soving Suitable Problems developmentally Many problems can be adjusted to make them more suitable for another developmental level by changing a few specif features For example, a Problem which requites students to put together two concrete triangles to rake another shape can evolve, for more advanced students, into » prob. Jem where they mus list ll possible shapes that can be created. or where {hey ate asked to determine how many congruent triangles can be com bined to make a similar triangle AA Problems for Early Elementary Students Een ‘Three children eat 12 cookies. ‘Mei eats more cookies than Han, ian eats more than Kiri ‘The three ofthem eat all ofthe cookies. How many cookies did Kiri ea? {Possible Serategy: Draw a picture; “Hint: Students could start by drawing 12 cookies, and then share them among the 3 children according to the clues given in the problem} [3] ‘You have 10¢ to buy school supplies ‘An eraser costs 2¢; a pencil costs 3¢; and a paperclip costs 1¢ 2) What items can you buy? 'b) Can you buy exactly 6 items and use all of your money? {Possible Strategy: Act it out; Hint: Students can use 10 play pennies to act out the problem. For b), students could stare with 6 paper clips and trade up for more expensive items until 10 pennies have been spent } (eg. a) 5 erasers 3 erasers, a pencil, and a paper clip: 8 paper clips and an eraser, D) yes, 4 paper clips and 2 pencils 7 ‘Making Math Meaningful te Canaan Students, K-8 Prana ‘The pattern below continues ‘anil there are 10 eiangles altogether. How many shapes are there in the patters? AABAABAAE {ossibe Strategy: Draw a picture] 04 Mare making snowroen. Each snownan i made wi 2 crles and 4 battons. 9s. What is the greatest ‘You have 15 circles and 25 button ran make? rnumber of complete snowmen YOU (6) [Possible Strategy: Actit out or Use a model Hine Seadents lineup 5 red counters to repre then add 10 more.} who said “no,” and Ma block as some triangle faces and some faces that are nor triangles. Find the bloke the pile Possible Serategy: Guess and test] {triangle based prism) sent the people {20 students} ‘Show three diferent ways to cover this Shape with parern blocks. I fe Strategy: Guess and test and Actit out] e (pT | gta: oc on robin Shag Problems for Mid-Level Elementary Students emcees Pens come in packages of 3, 5, and 8. ‘Mrs. O'Regan bought 26 pens for her class. How many packages of each type might she have bought? [Possible Strategy: Act it out: ‘Hint: Students can use 26 pens, or counters, to represent the pens and try diferene groupings of3,5,and 8.) [e 2 packages ofS and "packages of 8) Bune ‘Leah must throw atleast 4 darts to get 2 score of 100 4) What isthe least score she can get with 4 darts? 'b) How could she get a score of 90 with 4darts? 2 (Possible Strategy: Make a chart/table; Hiine Students can make a chart to show the roa fall ofthe darts and 9 the same ring ‘They aotice that a score of 90 occurs beeween the scores for four darts inthe 22 ring and four dares in the 23 ring] [2)88.b) eB, 22 : 122,23, and 23) ‘What isthe date of he 100th day of non-leap year? (Possible Strategy: Make a chart Hine: Use a chart to show the numb column, and a runing total in secon: Sfdays in the frst 3 months: 31 + 28 + 31 days into the sth month] SS a "Add the first 100 numbers (starting with place of the sum? [Possible Strategy: Solve a simpler problem and Look fora patern: veers Tay some simpler problems ike 1+ 2-+ 3+ 4and1 +2 * 3 + 4 Heian smote the pattern. Then, look for the same pattern in 1 + 2-4 3 PET SIS os + 99 + 100. March up addends at either end: 100 + 1, then ge #2, then 98 + 3, and so on. A pattern emerges of 50 pairs, each (0) Swahra sum of 101, 50 % 101 = 5050.) 1x of days in each month in one 1d column, Count the number a ‘Mating Math Meaningful to Conadlan students, X= Daly Servings of Fruit and Vegetables a. seen @ 4 ¢ See lame EE eet tt t How many students does tac renns students each symbol represent? [Possible Strategy: Use an open sentence: : = 108) Hint: 12 ‘Jenny had some loaves of ‘bread, some cans of soup, and some boxes of cereal She put one ean of soup into the bag, and then added more items, When she was Jone, the total mass was berween 900 gand 1 kg. ‘What could be in the bag? Find as many different answers as you can. [Possible Strategy: Use an open sentence; {Fint To find the last and greatest possible combined mass of the other items, frudents might use open sentences: 105 g+ = 900 gand 105 g + = 1000. (Once they determine that the other items are between 795 g and 895 g, they can look for combinations with this mass] feg., 9 Soups; 1 oafof bread and 4 soups; ‘2 cereals and 1 soup. 1 cereal and 5 soups) How long isthe red side of this shape? the green side? left. The horizontal sides across the top must have a total len, E Ses These two points are the ‘corners of square. Draw two squares wit these comes. {Possible Strategy: Di raw a pictare; “int: Turn the paper and look atthe dots from other perspectives) [ee | bese A Tas Problems for Upper Elementary and Middle School Students Gres A 2-digit number is multiplied by its double. The product is 5618. ‘What isthe number? [Possible Strategy: Guess and test; Hine: Students try a number, and increase or decrease as appropriate] (53) ‘The digits of a 2git number are switched around to form a different 2zdigit number. The new number is 27 les than the original number. ‘What is the leas the original number could be? {Possible Strategy: Use logical reasoning; Hint: Scadents reason that i the digs are 27, the digits are probably 3 apart.) switched and the difference is eg. dl] “Two rectangles have the same perimeter, but the area of ones 6c! Tear thar th are of te oer What could her sie ngs Be, the Bae lengths are whole number values? Possible Strategy: Guess and test or Work backward weiScadents can look for two basicfact products that are 6 apart ana (6, forthe possible areas of the Ewo such as 5 % 6 = 30 and 6 X 6 PeStangles and then use the perimeter formula co see if their perimeters seer) [ege2 X 9and3 X 85 X 6and3 X & 6X 7and 9X 4 eS set of doors marked from 1 100 are all pen. 30 students wal y the doors one ata time, and open and cos the doors as described below:

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