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Problem-solving strategies

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Dhareen Laguing
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41 views31 pages

Problem-solving strategies

Uploaded by

Dhareen Laguing
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PROBLEM-SOLVING

STRATEGIES
GEORGE POLYA
GEORGE POLYA

“good problem solvers


tend to forget the details
and tend to focus on the
structure of the problem,
while poor problem
solvers focus on the
opposite”
POLYA’S 4 STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING

• Understand the problem (See)


• Devise a plan (Plan)
• Carry out the Plan (Do)
• Look Back (Check)
1. UNDERSTAND A PROBLEM (SEE)

• What kind of problem is it?


• What is the unknown?
• What information is given?
• What do the terms mean?
• Is there enough information or is more information needed?
• What is or are the conditions in the problem? Is it possible to satisfy
the condition/s? Is /Are the condition/s sufficient to determine the
unknown.
2. DEVISE A PLAN (PLAN)
• Identifying the Subgoal variable
• Making a table • Solving a simpler version of the
• Make an Organized List Tree problem
Diagram, Venn Diagram) • Trial and error / Guess an check
• Making an Illustration/Drawing • Work Backwards
• Eliminating possibilities • Look for a pattern/s
• Writing an equation/using a
3. CARRY OUT THE PLAN (DO)

• Work carefully
• Keep an accurate and neat record of all your attempts
• Realize that some of your initial plans will not work and that you may
have to devise another plan or modify existing plan.
4. LOOK BACK (CHECK)

• Did you answer the question?


• Is your result reasonable?
Example:

1. A Police station has 25 vehicles of


motorcycles and cars. The total
number of wheels is 70. Find the
number of motorcycles and cars the
station has.
“OLD MACDONALD HAS 56 CHICKENS AND
CARABAOS IN THE FARM. ALL IN ALL, THERE
ARE 152 FEET. HOW MANY CHICKENS AND
CARABAOS ARE IN HIS FARM?”
Example:

1. Magic Square Problem (Magic squares are


square grids with a special arrangement of
numbers in them. These numbers are special
because every row, column and diagonal
adds up to the same number.)

Arrange the numbers from 1


to 9 in a 3x3 magic square so
that the sum of every row,
column and diagonal adds up
to the same number.
Using the Magic Square Trick

Make a magic square using the numbers 73-81:

73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81


Strategy 2: Making a Table Strategy
Making a table is a problem-solving strategy that students can use
to solve mathematical word
problems by writing the information in a more organized format. This
problem-solving strategy allows students to discover relationships and
patterns among data. It encourages students to organize information in a
logical way and to look critically at the data to find patterns and develop a
solution.
The following are the steps in making a table.
a. Set up the table with the correct label.
b. Enter known data into table.
c. Look for a pattern and extend the table.
d. Find the answer in the table.
Example:

Joy takes up jogging as her form of exercise. She


jogs daily in their barangay auditorium. On the first
week, she jogs for 15 minutes per day, on the second
week she jogs for 20 minutes per day. If she jogs six
days each week, what will be her total jogging time on
the sixth week?
Strategy 3: Making an Organized List

Making an organized list strategy is used to solve


problems that have multiple solutions and this is done by
writing down all the combinations or possibilities in an
organized list. This would help one see clearly the answer
and be sure not to forget any parts. This strategy also
helps problem solvers organize their thinking about a
problem. Recording work in an organized list makes it
easy to review what has been done and to identify
important steps that must yet be completed. It also
provides an easy way of recording calculations.
Example: TV No. of people
NETWORK watching it
1. A survey of 120 people was ABS - CBN 55
conducted to determine who have GMA 30
watched from the three different TV 5 40
television networks. The results ABS – CBN 10
are shown in the table below. How and TV 5
many of the 120 people did not ABS – CBN 12
watch any of the three television and GMA
networks? GMA and 8
TV 5
ABS – CBN, 5
GMA and
TV 5
30 students were asked which
sports they play. The data is
1. How many
described below.
students play
Basketball
20 play basketball in total only?
16 play football in total 2. How many
15 play tennis in total students play
10 play basketball and tennis football and
tennis alone?
11 play basketball and football
3. How many of the
9 play football and tennis 30 students did not
7 play all three sports play any of the
three sports?
Strategy 4: Eliminating Possibilities

Eliminating possibilities is a strategy in which students remove possible answers until the correct
answer remains. This strategy can be used to solve basic or simple math problems or logic problems. This
can also aid students in organizing information and think about which among the given information can be
utilized to remove those information that do not satisfy the given conditions in the problem.

Example:

1. Wally asked Joy how old she was. Joy said to him that she would give him three clues and see if he
could guess her age. Joy wrote down the clues and let Wally make a guess.
a. My age is between 18 and 35.
b. My age is multiple of 3.
c. My age is an odd number.
d. The digits of my age are repeated
How old is Joy?
Susie has some coins. When she
puts them in piles of 2, 1 was left
over. When she put them in piles
of 3, again 1 was left over. The
same thing happens when she
puts them in piles of 4 (1 is left
over), but when she made piles of
5, she had none left over. If she
has few than 30 coins, how many
does she have?”
Strategy 5: Writing a Equation and using a variable

Writing an equation is a strategy that is done by translating word


problems to mathematical statements using any letter that would
represent the unknown in the problem.
Example:

1. Find two numbers whose sum is 28 and whose product is 192.


A hat and a jacket together
costs $100. The jacket cost $90
more than the hat. How much
is the cost of the hat and the
cost of the jacket?
Try This.

1. One number is 7 more than the another.


Twice the larger is equal to four times
the smaller decreased by 2. Find the
numbers.
Strategy 6: Looking for a Pattern Strategy
Example
Find the next three terms in the given sequences2, 5, 8, 11, ___, ___,
___
Strategy 7: Working Backwards and Strategy

Example
Wally is four years younger than
Phillip but Errol is 24 years older
than Phillip. If Errol is 35, how old
is Wally?
Step 3.Carrying Out the Plan

To solve the problem, we start from Errol’s


age
 Errol is 35 years old.
 He is 24 years older than Phillip.
 So, 35-24 years = 11
 Therefore, Phillip is 11years old.
 Wally is four years younger than Phillip.
 So, 11 – 4 = 7
Step 4: Looking Back
To verify our answer, this time we work
forward.
 7 + 4 = 11
 11 + 24 = 35
Hence, our answer is valid.
Strategy 8: Guess and Check Strategy

Guess and Check is a problem-solving strategy that students can use to


solve mathematical problems by guessing the answer and then checking the
guess fits the conditions of the problem.

Example:

1. Boy, Rey and Rynz are friends. The


product of their ages is 1664. No one
is of the same age as the other. What
are their ages?
Example:

1. Boy, Rey and Rynz are friends. The product of their ages is 1664. No one is
of the same age as the other. What are their ages?

Solution:

Step 1. Understanding the Problem Step 2. Devising a Plan


We will guess three random numbers and we will
What we know in the problem are the following multiply them. If the product is too small, we will guess
 The product of the ages of the three friends is 1664 larger numbers and if the product is too large we guess
 They don’t have the same age. another set of numbers. Then, we see if any patterns
What we need to find are ages of Boy, Rey and Rynz. develop from our guesses.
Example:

1. Boy, Rey and Rynz are friends. The product of their ages is 1664. No one is
of the same age as the other. What are their ages?

Step 3: Carrying Out the Plan Therefore, the ages of Boy, Rey and Rynz are 8, 13 and 16
Guess 1: 10, 12 and 15 years years.
10 x 12 x 15 = 1800 years too big
Guess 2: 9, 13 and 16 years
9 x 13 x 16 = 1872 years still too big
Guess 3: 8, 12, and 15 years
8 x 12 x 15 = 1440 too small
Guess 4: 8, 12 and 16 years
8 x 12 x 16 = 1536 years still too small
Guess 5: 8, 13 and 16 years
8 x 13 x 16 = 1664 years exact
Strategy 9: Solve a similar but Simpler Problem

Solving a simpler problem is something that mathematicians do all the time.


They get good at identifying ways to make a problem simpler, and applying what
they learned from the simpler problem to give them insight into whatever they’re
trying to figure out.

Example:

Jodie walks from her house 3 blocks west and 4


blocks north to the bakeshop. She then walked 4
blocks west and 6 blocks north to the mall. How far
away is Jodie’s house to the mall?
Example:

Jodie walks from her house 3 blocks west and 4 blocks north to the bakeshop. She then walked 4
blocks west and 6 blocks north to the mall. How far away is Jodie’s house to the mall?

Solution:
Step 2. Devising a Plan
Step 1. Understanding the Problem To solve the problem, we will
break it down to simpler problems.
What we know in the problem are the following:
 Jodie walks from her house 3 blocks west and 4 blocks
north to the bakeshop
 She then walked 4 blocks west and 6 blocks north to the
mall
What we need to find is the distance of Jodie’s house from
the mall.
Example:

Jodie walks from her house 3 blocks west and 4 blocks north to the bakeshop. She then walked 4
blocks west and 6 blocks north to the mall. How far away is Jodie’s house to the mall?
Step 3. Carrying out the Plan
First, we have to determine the distance from Jodie’s house to the
bakeshop.
3 blocks west + 4 blocks north = 7 blocks
(From Jodie’s house to the bakeshop)
Next, we determine the distance from the bakeshop to the mall.
4 blocks west + 6 blocks north = 10 blocks
(From the bakeshop to the mall)
Lastly, we determine the distance from Jodie’s house to the mall. We
now consider the two distances that we have determined.
7 blocks + 10 blocks = 17 blocks
Therefore, Jodie’s house is 17 blocks away from the mall.

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