Problem SolvingStrategies

This is a good method to use when you have no idea how to even start. If your first guess is off, it may lead you to think of a better guess. The guess & check method also helps you understand the problem better because you'll be working with the problem to solve it.

I am going to be using the example from the Utube video I hyperlinked to the topic, "Make A Drawing." * Using fractions can be difficult! If you have to deal with fractions and arn't very familiar with them, following this example will help!Problem:1/6 + 1/3 = ?* you will need one sixth of the whole (shape/drawing), and two thirds of another whole (shape/drawing).

For fractions, the most common drawing used is a pie chart or a stack of blocks/rectangles, which are the two used in this example. However, any shape can work if you are able to split it up into even sections that equals the number in the denominator of either fraction.*So, in this example, we are using a pie chart of 6 sections and a stack of 3 rectangles.

Once you have the pictures drawn, since we have one-sixth (1/6), we are going to shade in one section (number in the numerator) and leave the last five sections blank. One-sixth (1/6) and one-third (1/3) have two different denominators (6 and 3). To make it easier, we can double both the numberator and denominator for one-third (1/3). 1*2=2, 3*2=6 ending up with (2/6). Now we split all three of the rectangles into skinnier rectangles and end up with a total of six rectangles. Since we have that drawing completed, we can shade in two rectangles (numerator) and leave the last four blank.

So we have one section shaded in on the pie chart, and two sections shaded in on the rectangle stack. It is important to double check that they have an equal number of total sections before you continue, which we do.1 + 2 = 3. The number 3 is the new numerator. So the answer is 3/6. We are able to simplify 3/6 to 1/2 by dividing the numerator and denominator by two.*Drawing pictures gives us a good visual aid to help understand exactly what we are doing to the problem.

The subtypes I have added are a few examples ways you are able to play with different problems. Take a look at the hyperlinks to see the examples.