Word Problems

Lesson Plan

1. What is a word problem?2. Key Words – Addition and Subtraction3. Key Words – Multiplication and Division4. Examples5. Trap Problems6. Who wants to be a Millionaire?

So what exactly is a word problem?

A word problem is a mathematic exercise expressed as a hypothetical situation that is explained in words.

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.

Don’t Worry, word problems aren’t as hard Don’t Worry, word problems aren’t as hard as you may think.as you may think.

Subtract• REMOVE• TAKE AWAY• DIFFERENCE BETWEEN _____

AND _____• _____ MINUS _____• _____ DECREASED BY _____• LOSS• LESS• FEWER• TAKE AWAY

Add• ADDITIONAL• SUM OF_____ AND _____• TOTAL OF _____ AND _____• _____ PLUS _____• _____ INCREASED BY _____• GAIN• RAISE• MORE• INCREASE OF

Multiplication• MULTIPLY _____ BY _____• PRODUCT OF _____ AND

_____• _____ TIMES _____• DOUBLE _____• TWICE _____• TRIPLE _____• PERCENT OF _____• FRACTION OF _____

Division• QUOTIENT OF _____ AND

_____• DIVIDE _____ BY _____• _____ DIVIDED BY _____• DIVIDED EQUALLY• PER

Now let’s take a look at a few word problems!

Are you ready to give it a try?

A starfish has 5 arms. How many arms do 5 starfish have?

Need Help?

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?

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!

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.

• 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?

Guess what?

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

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

Welcome to

Who Wants to be a Millionaire

50:50

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 1

C: 2

B: 5

D: 24

50:50

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

How many fish were on the introduction

page?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: Is solvable

C: Takes time to solve

B: To much information

D: Not enough information

50:50

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A Trap Problem has…

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 15

C: 4

B: 9

D: 36

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A fish tank contains 3 large fish and 12 small

fish. How many fish are there in the tank?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 12

C: 1

B: 7

D: 4

50:50

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

An aquarium has 4 fish and 3 snails. How many fish are

there in the aquarium?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 21

C: 9

B: 3

D: 12

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A fish tank contains 12 fish of which 9 are stationary. How

many fish in the tank are moving?

Congratulations!

You’ve ReachedYou’ve Reached

the $1,000the $1,000

Milestone!Milestone!

Congratulations!Congratulations!

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 4

C: 16

B: 10

D: 5

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A magician has 8 hens. He makes each hen lay 2 eggs. How many eggs

are there in all?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 15

C: 100

B: 4

D: 5

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

Sean has $20 in his pocket. Each fish costs $5. How many fish can he buy?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 27

C: 3

B: 9

D: 4

50:50

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

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?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 0

C: 2

B: 4

D: 8

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

JJ divided 4 by 2 on his calculator. What quotient did the calculator display?

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$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 9

C: 6

B: 8

D: 7

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

Austin has 42 marbles. He shares them equally among 6 friends. How many marbles

does each friend get?

Congratulations!

You’ve ReachedYou’ve Reached

the $32,000the $32,000

Milestone!Milestone!

Congratulations!Congratulations!

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 30

C: 25

B: 35

D: 40

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A starfish has 5 arms. How many arms do 6

starfish have?

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 72

C: 90

B: 9

D: 81

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

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?

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 48

C: 16

B: 42

D: 45

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

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?

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: 28

C: 30

B: 24

D: 20

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A fish tank contains 66 fish. There are 30 red fish, and 8 green fish.

How many fish are there of other colors?

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A: It’s a Trap Problem

C: 10

B: 6

D: 8

50:50

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$1 Million

$500,000$250,000$125,000$64,000$32,000$16,000$8,000$4,000$2,000$1,000$500$300$200$100

A fish was supposed to swim 8 feet. After 3 minutes he had 2

feet left. How many feet was he able to swim?

YOU WIN $1 MILLION DOLLARS!

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