PRIMALS 4-6

Pedagogical Retooling in Mathematics, Languages,

and Science for Grades 4-6 Teachers

Session 5.0
problem solving

Learning Action Cell Session Guide

Mathematics 4-6

Prepared by:

REMYLINDA T. SORIANO
Education Program Supervisor (Math)
Curriculum Implementation Division
Schools Division Office of Manila
Department of Education – NCR

WILMA S. CARRERA
Education Program Supervisor (Math)
Curriculum Implementation Division
Schools Division Office of Pangasinan I
Department of Education – Region I

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Objectives of the Session
At the end of the session, teachers should be able to:
1. Differentiate routine from non-routine problems;
2. Apply Polya’s 4-step heuristics of problem-solving;
3. Solve non-routine problems using appropriate problem-solving strategy/ies;
and
4. Construct sample non-routine problems.

Key Understanding or Learning Points

1. The principal reason for studying mathematics is problem solving.

2. A problem is a situation that requires a solution: can be routine or non-
routine. A routine problem is a translation problem for which you can write
an equation while a non-routine problem is one that requires a resolution,
and for which no path to the answer is readily known.(Posementier and Krulik
2015).
3. There are different problem-solving strategies that can help one solve
problems: using logical reasoning, guess-and-check, making a table/graph,
making a list, finding a pattern, working backwards, role-playing, making a
diagram, solving a simpler problem.
4. Algorithms - are task specific, whereas problem solving requires a more
general approach and guarantees success if applied correctly and if the
proper algorithm has been selected.
5. Polya’s 4-Step Heuristic of Problem Solving
a. Understand
b. Plan
c. Do
d. Check back
Materials Needed Approximate Duration

 Manila paper 2 hours / 120 mins

 Marker
 Masking tape
 Matchsticks
 Art paper
 Slide deck
 Projector
 Meta cards
 Scissors
 Activity Sheets
o Six (6) word problems
o Twelve (12) word problems
 Word Problems
References

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Cathcart, G et. al. (2011). Developing Mathematical Thinking and Problem-Solving
Ability in Learning Mathematics. pp 39-59. Allyn and Bacon. Pearson Education:
Boston, MA

Long, Calvin T and deTemple, Duane W (2006) Thinking Critically in. Mathematical
Reasoning for Elementary Teachers. pp3-51. Pearson Education:Boston, MA

Posamentier,, Alfred and Krulik, Stephen (2015).Problem-Solving Strategies in

Mathematics. World Scientific Pub Co Pte Ltd Singapore.

Sonnabend, Thomas (2010). in Mathematics for Teachers. pp. 258-303.

Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning:Canada.

Sullivan, Peter and Lilburn, Pat (2002). Good Questions for Math Teaching. Math
solutions: Sausalito, CA.

Tipps, Steve, Johnson, Art, and Kennedy, Leonard (2011). Developing Problem-
Solving Strategies in Guiding Children’s Learning of Mathematics. pp133-156.
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning: Belmont, CA.

Introduce the session (5 minutes)

Note to the facilitator: Ensure that the room has been arranged based on the design
and all conditions are observed (sound system, presentation materials, etc.).

“Good day everyone, welcome to an exciting LAC session. I am

____________________. I will be facilitating the session on “Problem Solving”. This
will be shared to us by Ms. Minnie Lapinid, of De la Salle University. Today, we’ll
have a journey together on the road to successful learning.

As teachers, we keep on creating lessons for our learners that will take into
consideration their abilities, interests, capabilities and in accordance to the
competencies that need to be taught and to be learned. This will make learning more
meaningful for them by linking their interests with the lesson. “

Note to the facilitator: Show the title slide. Show the objectives of the session as well
as the topical coverage of the session.

ACTIVITY

Priming Activity 1: “Think- Pair- Share Activity” (10 minutes)

Find a partner and solve.

A Math Club has only one member at the start of the school year. If
each member recruits two new ones each month, how many members
will the club have at the end of 10 months?

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Guide Questions:
1. How did you solve the problem?
2. What are the ways in solving the problem?

Note to the facilitator: Answering the problem (3 minutes); Discussion (7minutes)

Activity 2: “Problematic Six” (20 minutes)

Instructions:
1. Present six different word problems to the participants.
2. Find a partner and examine the word problems.
3. Ask the dyads to group the word problems into two.
4. Solicit the concepts by explaining/sharing how they grouped the problems
(What was the basis they used for the classification?).

Note to the facilitator: Prepare an activity sheets with the six (6) word problems.

ANALYSIS (20 minutes)

Guide questions:
1. How did you group the word problems?
2. What was your basis in classifying the word problems?
3. Why did you group the “problems” in such a manner?
What label will you give to each of your groups?
a. routine and non-routine?
b. simple and complex?
c. exercises and problems?
4. What appropriate strategies were employed in solving word problems?

Note to the facilitator: Present the guide questions before showing the video.
Facilitator can also give additional information during the discussion.

ABSTRACTION (30 minutes)

“Before watching the video, let us recall all the important mathematical words
that will help you understand the topic to be presented on problem solving. You are
now ready to watch the video, listen attentively and write down all important word/
words mentioned by the speaker.”

Points for Discussion

1. Routine and non-routine problems.

2. Emphasize that routine problems by leading the participants to write the
equations and translate these equation into a problem(Translation problems
can be 1-step, 2-step, or multi-step).
3. Show examples of each.
4. Lead the discussion to non-routine problems and how important they are to
mathematics education (critical thinking, flexibility, thinking out of the box,
innovation, imagination, creativity – 21st century skills).

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 5. Introduce George Polya’s four-step heuristics in solving problems:
understand, plan, compute/implement the plan, check and review.
6. Lead the discussion to the different strategies that can be utilized to solve
non-routine problems.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the difference between routine and non-routine problem? (show slide)
2. Difference between problem and algorithm (show slide)

Viewing #1. Discussion on Problem Solving; Polya’s 4-Step Problem Solving

Resource Person: Dr. Minie Lapinid, PRIMALS 4-6 National Training of
Trainers

Reflection Questions

1. How would you describe the characteristics and skills of proficient problem
solvers?
2. How does problem solving can be taught in the classroom?
3. How do you apply formative strategies in assessing student’s problem solving
skills?

APPLICATION (30 minutes)

Activity 3: “Magic Twelve”

Instructions
1. Divide the participants into six groups.
2. Distribute Activity 3 hand-outs.
3. Ask the groups to solve the problems and take note of the strategies that they
used to solve problem/s.

Activity 4 – “Problem Shift”

Instruction: Participants will construct or create non-routine problems using the given
data.
Note to the facilitator: Ask them to solve the problems and identify the strategies that
they used to solve problem/s.

Construct a non-routine problem.

Cheska bought 5 ½ m of cotton for curtains. She finds that she needs 8
1/4 m to put curtains in all the windows. How much cotton does she still
need to buy?

a. To a problem with missing data

b. To a problem with extra data

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Note:
1. Have a member of a group present and discuss how the group arrived at the
solution. Ask for alternative solutions if any. Focus the discussion on the
process of problem-solving and the different problem-solving strategies that
can be applied.
2. Summarize the different problem-solving strategies that can be applied as
indicated in the slide decks.
3. Ideally there should be substantial time for application.

CLOSURE (2 minutes)

End the session with this quote:

“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend

55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5
minutes thinking about solutions.”
― Albert Einstein

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Problem Set 1 (for Activity 2- “Problematic Six”)
1. Mina bought 2 1/2 kilos of pork and 2 4/5 kilos of chicken for a party. How
many kilos of meat did she buy in all?
2. Eggs are priced at Php60 a dozen. How much will Eloy pay for 4 eggs?
3. Ariel walks 1 ½ km to school while JR walks 2 km to school. How much
further does JR walk?
4. Mr. Cruz has a fleet of 17 buses and wants to give ½ of it to Ana, 1/3 of it to
Bing and 1/6 of it to Carl. How can this be done?
5. Dar has a 60-meter-long fencing material enough for his vegetable garden.
How big is his garden?
6. A meter of cotton material costs Php25 and a meter of lace material costs
Php50. How much change will Evie get from Php1,000, if she buys 3 ½ m of
cotton and 9 m of lace?

Problem set 2 (for Activity 3- “Magic Twelve”)

1. Fides bought a doll for 50 pesos and sold it for 60. The next day, Fides
bought the same doll for 70 pesos and sold it again for 80 pesos. Did Fides
gain or lose? By how much?
2. Find the sum of the first 100 counting numbers.
1+2+3+…=n
3. Get 12 matchsticks and form four congruent squares with it.
3.1 Remove 4 sticks to form two congruent squares.
3.2 Remove 2 sticks to form 2 squares.
3.3 Remove 4 sticks to form a square.
3.4 Remove 2 sticks to form 2 rectangles.
3.5 Remove 2 sticks to form 3 congruent squares.
4. A 16-foot piece of log. How many cuts are needed to have pieces that are 2 ft
each?
5. Old McDonald had a farm and in this farm, he had 37 animals (chickens and
pigs). Altogether, the animals had 98 legs. How many chickens and how
many pigs are there?

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6. Place the numbers 1-6 in each shape such that the sum in any direction is the
same.
7. Brad went to store A and spent ½ of his money. He then went to store B and
spent ½ of his money. He went to store C and spent ½ of his money. Now he
had Php1 left. How much money did he have at the start?
8. Ten people in a room. Each one shakes the hand of every other person in the
room once. How many handshakes are there in all?
9. Eight antique coins,, one of which is fake and weighs less. How can you find
the fake coin in:
a. three weighings
b. two weighings
10. Ted spent 10 more minutes asleep in class than he spent awake. The class
is one hour long. How long was he asleep?
11. Draw 4 lines that will pass through all the nine dots.
12. Paul, Sam, and Tom differ in height. Their last names are Santos, Javier, and
Cruz but not necessarily in that order. Paul is taller than Tom but shorter than
Sam. Santos is the tallest of the three and Cruz is the shortest. What are
Paul’s and Tom’s last names?