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Do you ever
have trouble
solving a problem?
Sometimes coming up with ways that
don't
work helps you to find a way that
does
work.
By eliminating choices, it is easier
to find a solution.
Let's look
at some everyday situations where
you make choices. |
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To get to
the movie theater you know you must turn either
right or left on 2nd Street.
You
decide to turn right.
You drive to the end of 2nd Street and
see the lake in front of you.
You know that this was
not
the correct choice.
You know you should have turned left.
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You
are playing hide-and-go-seek with your friends.
You know that your friend is hiding either behind the car
or behind the tree.
You check behind the car and see that your
friend
is
not hiding
there.
Your friend must be behind the tree.
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You
are measuring your room.
You pick
up a ruler to measure it,
but decide the ruler is
too small
and
not
the right tool.
You decide that a yardstick is a better tool for
measuring your room.
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Now let's look at
some examples of making math choices.
Sam's
birthday is Friday.
He wants to bring cookies to school.
He'd like to have 2 cookies for each
student.
There are 20 students in his class.
How many cookies should he bring?
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First, Sam tried adding.
2 + 20 = 22 cookies
Does that answer make sense?
22 cookies will
not
be enough to give
each student 2.
Sam
decides he should multiply.
2 x 20 = 40 cookies
Sam decides 40 cookies is the
correct answer. |
Billy
has 24 books to arrange on 3
shelves.
He wants to put the same number of
books on each shelf.
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First, Billy tries subtracting.
24 - 3 = 21 books
Does that answer make sense?
Billy cannot
put 21 books on each shelf.
Billy decides he should divide.
24 ÷ 3 = 8 books
Billy
decides 8 books on each shelf
makes sense. |
 Remember: |
Making wrong
choices can help to eliminate answers and help
you to get the
correct answer. |
Click on the face for some
practice.
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