Background Information

Nearly 100 years ago, a man named George Polya designed a four-step method to solve all kinds of problems: Understand the
problem, make a plan, execute the plan, and look back and reflect. Because the method is simple and generalizes well, it has
become a classic method for solving problems. In fact, the method is applicable to all areas of our lives where we encounter
problems—not just math. Although the method appears to be a straightforward method where you start at Step 1, and then go
through Steps 2, 3, and 4, the reality is that you will often need to go back and forth through the four steps until you have solved
and reflected on a problem.

Polya’s Problem-Solving Chart: An Example

A version of Polya’s problem-solving chart can be found below, complete with descriptions of each step and an illustration of how
the method can be used systematically to solve the following problem:

There are 22 students in Mrs. Byer’s third grade class. Every student is required to either play the recorder or sing in the choir,
although students have the option of doing both. Eight of Mrs. Byer’s students chose to play the recorder, and 20 students sing in
the choir. How many of Mrs. Byer’s students both play the recorder and sing in the choir?

Step Description of Step Example

Number

1. Figure out what is being asked. What is
Understand known? What is not known? What type of
the problem. answer is required? Is the problem similar to
other problems you’ve seen? Are there any
important terms for which you should look up
There are 22 total students. There are three groups of students:
Students who only play recorder, students who only sing in choir, and
students who do both. Initially, we do not know how many students
are in any of these groups, but we know the total of the three groups
adds up to 22. We also know that a total of 8 students play the
 Step Description of Step
Number
definitions?
2. Make a Come up with some strategies for solving the
plan. problem. Common strategies include making
a list, drawing a picture, eliminating
possibilities, using a formula, guessing and
checking, and solving a simpler, related
problem.
3. Execute Use the strategy chosen in Step 2 to solve the
the plan. problem. If you encounter difficulties using the
strategy, you may want to use resources such
as the textbook to help. If the strategy itself
appears not to be working, return to Step 2
and select a different strategy.
4. Look back Part of Step 4 is to find a way to check your
and reflect. answer, preferably using a different method
than what you used to solve the problem.
Another part of Step 4 is to evaluate the
method you used to solve the problem. Was it
effective? Are there ways you could have made
it more effective? Are there other types of
problems with which you might be able to use
this type of solution method?
Example
recorder, and a total of 20 students sing in the choir. We must find the
number of students who do both.
We could list out the 22 students and then assign to each either
recorder, choir, or both until we got the right totals. We could draw a
Venn Diagram that separates out the three types of groups. We could
try solving a similar problem with a class of fewer students.
Let’s try solving a similar problem with a class of 6 students, 5 of whom
play recorder and 3 of whom are in the choir. In this case, we know that
there is only one student who doesn’t play recorder, and so this
student must sing in the choir. That means the other two choir singers
must play the recorder, so there are 2 students who do both. Now, let’s
try that same method with the original problem. Since only 8 of the 22
students play recorder, the other 14 must sing in the choir and not play
recorder. But there are 20 students in the choir, so 6 of these choir
students also play the recorder. So the answer is 6.
Let’s check our answer with a Venn Diagram, which was one of the
other strategies we considered in Step 2. We first fill in each region
 Step Description of Step Example
Number

based on the results we found in Step 3. Now we check to see if the

numbers match the original problem. Notice that 2 + 6 + 14 = 22 total
students, 2 + 6 = 8 students playing the recorder, and 6 + 14 = 20
students in choir. So our answer checks out!

Looking back on our answer, we now see that our process of

subtracting from the total can be used in any similar situation, as long
as all students must be in at least one of the two groups. In the future,
we wouldn’t even have to use the simpler related problem since we’ve
found a more general pattern!