Word Problem Strategy Making a Table Making a

Word Problem Strategy Making a Table

Making a Table l Making a Table is a problem-solving strategy that students can use to solve mathematical word problems by writing the information in a more organized format.

Here is an example of a problem that can be solved by making a table: Juanita checked a book out of the library, and it is now 7 days overdue. If a book is 1 day overdue, the fine is 10", 2 days overdue, 20", 3 days overdue, 30", and so on. How much is her fine?

Why Is It Important? This problem-solving strategy allows students to discover relationships and patterns among data. It encourages students to organize information in a logical way and look at the data critcally to find patterns and develop a solution.

Question How many hours will a car traveling at 65 miles per hour take to catch up with a car traveling at 55 miles per hour if the slower car starts one hour before the faster car?

Step 1 - Understand l This step involves identifying the key pieces of information needed to find the answer. You may have to read the problem several times or put the problem into your own words. l What I know: understand that there is a slower car going 55 miles per hour and a faster car going 65 miles per hour. The slower car starts one hour before the faster car. l What I need to know: Find how many hours it will take the faster car to catch up to the slower car.

Step 2 - Plan Because there are three sets of data to organize, you should use the Make a Table strategy. Generally, if there is data associated with a certain category, it can be organized easily by making a table. This strategy also overlaps with the Find a Pattern strategy because it is often easier to find a pattern when the data is organized in a table.

Step 3 - Solve Make a table to organize the data. For this example, create a row for the slower car, a row for the faster car, and a column for each hour. Find the distance traveled during each hour by looking at the distances listed in each column. The distance of the faster car was more than the distance of the slower car in hour seven. The faster car traveled six hours to catch up to the slower car. Hour 1 2 3 Slower Car 55 110 165 220 275 330 385 Faster Car 0 65 195 260 325 390 130 4 5 6 7

Check l Read the problem again to be sure the question was answered. l Did you find the number of hours it took for the faster car to catch up? Yes, it took 6 hours. Check the math to be sure it is correct. l 55 x 2 = 110, 55 x 3 = 165, 55 x 4 = 220, 55 x 5 = 275, 55 x 6 = 330, 55 x 7 = 385 65 x 2 = 130, 65 x 3 = 195, 65 x 4 = 260, 65 x 5 = 325, 65 x 6 = 390

Guided Practice Lee made the same number of bird houses each day. Which number will complete the table for the number of bird houses Lee has complete during day 4? Day 1 2 3 4 Birdhouses 7 14 21 ?

Step 1 - Understand What I know: Lee makes 7 bird houses a day. What I need to know: How many bird houses can he make by the 4 th day.

Step 2 - Plan Because there are two sets of data to organize, you should use the Make a Table strategy. Also decide which operation you can use to help you create equations based on the days and number of bird houses made. This strategy also overlaps with the Find a Pattern strategy because it is often easier to find a pattern when the data is organized in a table.

Step 3 - Solve Make a table to organize the data. For this example, create a row for the days, a row for the bird house, and a column for each day. You should use multiplication to solve the final equation, 1 x 7 = 7, 2 x 7 = 14, 3 x 7 = 21, so 4 x 7 =? . So Lee can make 28 bird houses in 4 days, 4 x 7 = 28. Day 1 2 3 4 Birdhouses 7 14 21 ?

Independent Practice questions On a clean sheet of paper solve these practice questions using this strategy. I should see you picking out the row titles and drawing a table.

Jacob and Mark each began biking today. If Jacob bikes 4 miles each day and Mark bikes 6 miles each day, how many miles will Jacob have biked when Mark has biked 30 miles? A. B. C. D. 16 miles 20 miles 24 miles 28 miles

Nicholas needs to place 6 cups on each table for the picnic. If there are 8 tables, how many cups will he need? A. B. C. D. 14 52 48 58

Lydia recorded the hieght of a sunflower. The first week, the plant was 3 inches high. The second, third, and fourth week, it was 5 inches, 7 inches, and 9 inches high. At this rate, when will the sunflower be 15 inches high. A. B. C. D. 5 weeks 8 weeks 6 weeks 7 weeks

Jenna bakes cookies every third day. Her best friend Wanda bakes cookies every fourth day. If they both baked cookies today, in how many days will they both be baking cookies again? A. B. C. D. 7 days 12 days 9 days 15 days

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