Willow Tree
Weighted Averages
Mixtures, weighted percentages, and varying speeds make problem solving difficult. The resource give learners a strategy for tackling these types of problems effectively.
Overcoming Obstacles
Defining Problems Big and Small
Problems come in all shapes and sizes, but the first step in solving a problem is to identify just what the problem is. Through a series of games and activities, middle schoolers learn first to identify a problem, decide on a solution,...
CK-12 Foundation
Proportions and Scale: Problem Solving Plan, Proportions
Slide into a lesson on proportions. A slider interactive lets users adjust three of the four values in a proportion and automatically updates the fourth value. Scholars use the interactive to help answer a set of challenge questions on...
Overcoming Obstacles
Finding Solutions
Middle schoolers apply all they have learned in the Problem Solving module by participating in a contest to see which group can build the tallest tower using only sheets of paper and masking tape.
Suffolk Public Schools
Solving Word Problems
Lower young mathematicians' affective filter with a problem solving presentation that details four steps to make word problems appear less daunting.
Missouri Department of Elementary
STAR Deputies, Unite!
STAR deputies unite! Scholars gather in small groups to solve problems using the STAR method. Pupils read a card that describes a situation that requires problem-solving. They role-play the scenario in front of their peers.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Opportunity Knocks, But It Costs, Too!
Sixth graders practice six steps to effective problem solving. Working with the school counselor, class members are presented with a scenario that requires them to make a decision. Individuals then write a reflection in which they...
Missouri Department of Elementary
My Problem…Your Problem…Our Problem
Encourage sixth graders to take responsibility for their actions and become a problem solver. Pupils discuss new problems faced in sixth grade then identify ones that involve other people. A worksheet guides their practice in conflict...
EngageNY
Applying Tangents
What does geometry have to do with depression? It's an angle of course! Learners apply the tangent ratio to problem solving questions by finding missing lengths. Problems include angles of elevation and angles of depression. Pupils make...
Overcoming Obstacles
Identifying Options
"What should I do?" "How should I do it?" Middle Schoolers learn that answering these two questions is the key to solving problems. They begin with the first two steps of the Decision Making Process (gathering information and identifying...
CCSS Math Activities
Smarter Balanced Sample Items: 6th Grade Math – Claim 2
They claim there are problems on the assessment. The presentation provides 13 questions that demonstrate the problem-solving claim for Smarter Balanced assessments. Teachers use the resource to provide examples of problem-solving...
EngageNY
Two-Step Problems—All Operations
Step 1: Use the resource. Step 2: Watch your class become experts in solving two-step problems. Scholars learn to solve two-step word problems in context. They use tape diagrams and algebraic techniques to break the problem into two,...
CK-12 Foundation
Problem Solving Plan, Estimation with Decimals: Shopping
Mathematicians go on a virtual shopping trip in an interactive designed to boost the concept of estimation. Scholars read and answer five questions—multiple-choice, true or false, and a discussion—with help from a drag-and-drop shopping...
Intel
Forensics: Get a Clue
Although the methods are all scientific, forensic science was started by police officers rather than scientists, who relied on observation and common sense. Young detectives use many tools to solve crimes around the school in a...
SurfScore
Kodable
Prepare young scholars for life in the twenty-first century with this introduction to computer coding formatted as a fun problem solving game, this resource is a great way to develop children's sequential thinking skills.
Curated OER
Solving a Simple Maze
It is a-maze-ing how lost one can get. Teams reconstruct a simple maze and solve it. Participants create an algorithm that a robot would follow in order to solve the maze as well. The activity includes an extension directing pupils to...
Curated OER
Number and Operations- Raul's Apples: Word Problem
Students discover how they can use manipulatives to solve word problems. In this problem solving instructional activity, students read Raul's Apples Problem and then complete a worksheet, using beans or counters to solve the problem....
Curated OER
Simple Strategies
Here is a fabulous lesson plan on problem solving strategies for your charges. In it, learners are presented with many excellent techniques they can use when faced with a multi-step math word problem. Some terrific blackline masters are...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Listening Exercise
Active listening is key to interacting with others in a way that shows respect. To develop their skill as listeners, high schoolers first play the "Telephone Game" to demonstrate some of the problems that arise in communication. Pairs...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Geometry
Help learners find joy in facing mathematical challenges. The questions posed on this worksheet encourage young mathematicians to utilize skills learned throughout a geometry unit, and to apply themselves and persevere through problem...
Just Health Action
Causes of the Causes: What Are the Root Causes of This Problem?
A "Causes of the Causes" diagram enables class members to examine the contributing factors to a problem. After reading a poem that models the process, class members, either in gorps or individually, diagram an issues they are passionate...
Henry Ford Museum
You Can Be an Innovator ... Like Henry Ford
Why did Henry Ford want to invent a car for the masses? Why did Henry Ford locate his factory in Detroit? Why did Henry Ford encourage the idea of a 5-day work week? Young innovators find the answers to these and other question in a unit...
Curated OER
Problem-Solving Strategy: Draw a Diagram - Problem Solving 11.3
In this drawing a diagram to solve word problems worksheet, learners practice the understand, plan, solve, and check technique for solving word problems by drawing diagrams. Students solve two word problems.
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Motion Problems
Let's hope class participants don't get motion sickness. In the instructional activity, class members first solve motion problems using tables and graphs. They then use algebraic techniques to solve motion problems.