Word Problems

1. Word Problems Lesson Plan

2. Table of Contents • What is a word problem? • Key Words – Addition and Subtraction • Key Words – Multiplication and Division • Examples • Trap Problems • Who wants to be a Millionaire?

3. So what exactly is a word problem? A word problem is a mathematic exercise expressed as a hypothetical situation that is explained in words.

4. Don’t Worry, word problems aren’t as hard as you may think. One thing that you’ll want to look for are key words. Key words will help you figure out which operations to perform on the word problem.

5. Key Words to Look For… Subtract Add ADDITIONAL SUM OF_____ AND _____ TOTAL OF _____ AND _____ _____ PLUS _____ _____ INCREASED BY _____ GAIN RAISE MORE INCREASE OF • REMOVE • TAKE AWAY • DIFFERENCE BETWEEN _____ AND _____ • _____ MINUS _____ • _____ DECREASED BY _____ • LOSS • LESS • FEWER • TAKE AWAY

6. More Key Words to Look For… Multiplication Division QUOTIENT OF _____ AND _____ DIVIDE _____ BY _____ _____ DIVIDED BY _____ DIVIDED EQUALLY PER • MULTIPLY _____ BY _____ • PRODUCT OF _____ AND _____ • _____ TIMES _____ • DOUBLE _____ • TWICE _____ • TRIPLE _____ • PERCENT OF _____ • FRACTION OF _____

7. Now let’s take a look at a few word problems! Are you ready to give it a try?

8. Can you solve this word problem? You can use any method you would like. A starfish has 5 arms. How many arms do 5 starfish have? Need Help?

9. Guess what? Here’s another!See if you can find the key words in this word problem. Nichole has 3 fish in her fish tank. She goes to the store and buys 2 more fish to add to the fish tank. How many fish are in the tank total?

10. GREAT JOB! What about this word problem. Make sure you read it carefully… There are 3 clownfish and 1 seahorse swimming around. How old is the seahorse? If you thought this was unsolvable, well…. You are correct!

11. This type of problem is called aTRAP PROBLEM. Read the problem once more: There are 3 clownfish and 1 seahorse swimming around. How old is the seahorse? What’s wrong? • There isn’t enough information to solve the problem.

12. What further information is needed to solve the problem? Take a few minutes to discuss with your classmates how you can change the word problem so you can answer the question. Here’s one example: There are 3 clownfish and 1 seahorse that is two years old. Today is the seahorse’s birthday, he just turned a year older. How old is the seahorse?

13. Guess what? I think your ready! Let’s see what we’ve learned by playing a game.

14. 50:50 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 Welcome toWho Wants to be a Millionaire 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

15. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

16. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 How many fish were on the introduction page? 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 1 B: 5 C: 2 D: 24

17. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

18. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 A Trap Problem has… 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: Is solvable B: To much information C: Takes time to solve D: Not enough information

19. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

20. 15 $1 Million A fish tank contains 3 large fish and 12 small fish. How many fish are there in the tank? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 15 B: 9 C: 4 D: 36

21. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

22. 15 $1 Million An aquarium has 4 fish and 3 snails. How many fish are there in the aquarium? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 12 B: 7 C: 1 D: 4

23. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

24. 15 $1 Million A fish tank contains 12 fish of which 9 are stationary. How many fish in the tank are moving? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 21 B: 3 C: 9 D: 12

25. Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! You’ve Reached the $1,000 Milestone!

26. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

27. 15 $1 Million A magician has 8 hens. He makes each hen lay 2 eggs. How many eggs are there in all? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 4 B: 10 C: 16 D: 5

28. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

29. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 Sean has $20 in his pocket. Each fish costs $5. How many fish can he buy? 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 15 B: 4 C: 100 D: 5

30. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

31. 15 $1 Million A board game has 9 total coins. There are equal number of coins of 3 different colors. How many coins are there of each color? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 27 B: 9 C: 3 D: 4

32. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

33. 15 $1 Million JJ divided 4 by 2 on his calculator. What quotient did the calculator display? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 0 B: 4 C: 2 D: 8

34. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

35. 15 Austin has 42 marbles. He shares them equally among 6 friends. How many marbles does each friend get? $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 9 B: 8 C: 6 D: 7

36. Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! You’ve Reached the $32,000 Milestone!

37. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

38. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 A starfish has 5 arms. How many arms do 6 starfish have? 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 30 B: 35 C: 25 D: 40

39. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

40. 15 $1 Million There are 3 cakes. Each cake is cut into 9 parts. Each part is further cut into 3 pieces. How many cake pieces are there in all? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 72 B: 9 C: 90 D: 81

41. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

42. 15 $1 Million A school has 3 lunch rooms. Each lunch room has 4 tables. If there are four children to each table, how many children stay for lunch? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 48 B: 42 C: 16 D: 45

43. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

44. 15 $1 Million A fish tank contains 66 fish. There are 30 red fish, and 8 green fish. How many fish are there of other colors? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: 28 B: 24 C: 30 D: 20

45. 15 $1 Million 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 1 $100

46. 15 $1 Million A fish was supposed to swim 8 feet. After 3 minutes he had 2 feet left. How many feet was he able to swim? 14 $500,000 13 $250,000 12 $125,000 11 $64,000 10 $32,000 9 $16,000 8 $8,000 7 $4,000 6 $2,000 5 $1,000 4 $500 3 $300 2 $200 50:50 1 $100 A: It’s a Trap Problem B: 6 C: 10 D: 8

47. YOU WIN $1 MILLION DOLLARS!

48. Sorry. But don’t worry, you’ll get it next time!