MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE FOR FILIPINO KIDS TRAINING PROGRAM

Level 1 Sessions 2 & 3

Problem Solving Strategies (Make a Systematic List)
When a problem requires examining different combinations of items, rules, or amounts, it is a candidate for
the use of a systematic list. A systematic list is a way to organize information in which a list is created by some
sort of system. When a system is too complicated, it may be better to change or simplify the system than to
spend the time trying to generate the list.
Problem Solving Strategies (Draw a Picture, Diagram or Model)
Drawing a diagram is the most common problem solving strategy. Very often, a problem solver needs to
draw a diagram just to understand the meaning of the problem. The diagram represents the problem in a way
we can see it, understand it, and think about it while we look for the next step.
Problem Solving Strategies (Guess and Check)
"Guess and Check" is a problem-solving strategy that students can use to solve mathematical problems by
guessing the answer and then checking that the guess fits the conditions of the problem.
Brain Exercises
A Problem Solving Strategies (Make a Systematic List)
1. Find the different combinations in which any of these digits: 2, 4, 6 and 8 can be added to give a sum of 10.
Each digit can be used as often as required. Two of them have been done for you.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
2.

Combinations
2+2+2+2+2
2+2+2+4

Sugar is sold in packets of different mass at a shop.

2 kg

3 kg

4 kg

A baker has to buy 10 kg of sugar.

Which are the packets of flour he can buy to get a total of exactly 10 kg? You can do this by making a
systematic list in the table below.
2 kg

Packet of sugar
3 kg

Total (kg)

4 kg

Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
Set 5
3.

What are the possible amounts of money that can be obtained from these notes?

$2

$2

$5

List them systematically in the table below to find the answer. Two have been done for you.
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
Set 5

$2

$2

$5

Total
$2
$4

4.

At the end of an annual camp, 5 boys, Alf, Ben Dan, Joe and Tom, exchanged addresses. Fill in the table
below to find the total number of times the addresses were exchanged.
Alf gave his
address to:

Ben gave his

address to:

Dan gave his

address to:

Total number of times the address were exchanged

5.

Tom gave his

address to:

= ___ ___ = ___

Find all the possible ways of getting $20 using the following dollar notes by completing the table below.
$2

6.

Joe gave his

address to:

Set

$5

$2

$1

$10

$5

$2

$1

$10

$5

$2

$1

Number of dollar notes

$10
$5
$2
$1

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Total amount
$20
$20
$20
$20
$20
$20
$20
$20

Find all the number greater than 2000 that can be formed by rearranging the following digits. For each
number, each digit can be used only once.
1

You can do this by completing the table below. Some numbers have been listed for you.
Number of
Number of beginnings Number of beginnings
beginnings with digit 2
with digit 3
with digit 9
2139
3129
9123
2193
3192
9132

B Problem Solving Strategies (Draw a Picture, Diagram or Model)

7. Every pupil in Miss Jiallys class handed in an exercise book. The books were stacked in 2 piles. In the first
pile, there were 6 books above and 5 books beneath Amys book. In the second pile, there were 7 books
above and 4 books beneath Bens book. How many pupils were there in the class?
(Strategy: Draw a picture.)
8.

In a race, Leo was faster than Roy. Tom was faster than Roy but slower than Sam. Sam was slower than
Leo. Who was last in the race? (strategy: Draw a diagram.)

9.

All the pupils in Mr Wus class are standing in two rows to buy drinks. In the first row, there are 10 pupils
in front of Amy and 9 pupils behind her. In the second row, there are 12 pupils in from of Roy and 8 pupils
behind him. How many pupils are there in Mr. Wus class? (Strategy: Draw a picture.)

10. Roy and Tom shared $100. After Roy was given another $5, he had twice as much money as Tom. How
much money had Tom? (Strategy: draw a model.)
11. Jason and Kenny had the same amount of money. After Jason had spent $4 and Kenny had spent $10. Jason
then had 4 times as much money as Kenny. How much money had each boy at first? (Strategy: Draw a
model.)
12. Using 3 sticks measuring 11 cm, 9 cm and 6 cm, how can you measure out a length of 28 cm? (Strategy:
Draw a picture.)
13. The figure below shows the seating arrangement at a square table.
(a) If 6 of these tables are arranged side by side to form a
rectangular table, how many people can be seated around
it?

(b) If 4 of these tables are arranged to form a big square table, how many people can be seated around it?
(Strategy: Draw pictures.)
14. The total cost of 1 peach, 1 melon and 2 durians is $18. A melon costs twice as much as a peach and a
durian costs thrice as much as a peach. How much does a peach cost? (Strategy: Draw a model.)
1
15. Lisa is 3 times as old as Kathy. Kathy is 1 times as old as Jane. If their total age is 38 years, how much
3
older is Lisa than Jane? (Strategy: Draw a model.)
16. A rectangular plot of land is to be fenced up, with 2 openings
as shown. To support the fence, vertical posts are erected at
1
1 m intervals. How many posts are needed to support the
2
fence? (Strategy: Draw a picture.)
C Problem Solving Strategies (Guess and Check)
17. A book is opened and the sum of the page numbers facing each other is 193. What pages of the book have
you turned to?
18. You open a book and the product of the page numbers facing each other is 272. What pages of the book
have you turned to?
19. A group of 20 people attended a football match. The prices of the admission tickets are shown below.
FOOTBALL MATCH
Ticket Prices
Adult
$5
Child

$3

The group paid a total of $74 for admission tickets. How many adults were there in the group? Make your
Guesses and Checks in the table below. One has been done for you.
Number of
adults
1st Guess
2nd Guess
3rd Guess
4th Guess
5th Guess
6th Guess

Too 2
Low

Number of
children

Cost of adult
tickets ($)

18

2 5 = 10

Cost of
children
tickets ($)
18 3 = 54

Total amount
($)
10 + 54 = 64

20. Roger bought 9 red and blue pens for a total of $59. Each red pen cost $6 and each blue pen cost $7. Using
the Guess and Check method, find the number of red pens Roger bought.

1st Guess
2nd Guess
3rd Guess
4th Guess

Number of
red pens

Number of
blue pens

Cost of red
pens ($)

Cost of blue
pens ($)

Total cost ($)

16=6

8 7 = 56

6 + 56 = 62

21. In the diagram below, put 4, 5, 6, 7 , 8 and 9 in

the circles so that the sum of the numbers
along each side adds up to 17.
2

22. At a pony riding class, 3 students take turns to ride a pony. Altogether, there are 70 legs belonging to the
students and ponies. Complete the table below to find the number of ponies and students in the class. Two
of them have been done for you.

Number of
ponies

Number of
students

Total number of legs

32=6

(2 4) + (6 2) = 20

33=9

(3 4) + (9 2) = 30

1st Guess
nd

2 Guess
3rd Guess
4th Guess
5th Guess
6th Guess

23. The difference between two numbers is 2. Their product is 1443. Find the two numbers.
Mind Strainers
A Problem Solving Strategies (Make a Systematic List)
1. Find all possible even numbers that can be formed by rearranging the following digits. For each number,
each digit can be used only once.
3
6
8
You can do this by filling in the table below.
1-digit even number
2-digit even number

2.

3-digit even number

Two darts were thrown at the dartboard shown.

A dart that missed the target would not score any point. The scores of the darts were then added up. List all
the possible total scores of the two darts in the table.
1st dart
2nd dart
Total score

3
10

3.

Find all the numbers greater than 3000 that can be formed by rearranging the following digits. For each
number, each digit can only be used once.
1

You can do this by completing the table below.

Numbers beginning with digit 3 Numbers beginning with digit 5

4.

Numbers beginning with digit 9

3159

5139

9135

3195

5193

9153

Jack was told by Miss Wee to number 200 blank cards from 1 to 200. How many digits would Jack have to
write altogether?
Number of digits
Total number of 1-digit numbers (1 to 9)
Total number of 2-digit numbers (10 to 99)
Total number of 3-digit numbers (100 to 200)

Total number of digits Jack would have to write

B

Problem Solving Strategies (Draw a Picture, Diagram or Model)

2
3
of the height from which it had fallen. Find the total height travelled by the ball when it hit the floor for the
second time. (Strategy: Draw a picture.)

5.

A ball was dropped from the top of a table of height 90 cm. Each time the ball hit the floor, it rebounded

6.

A special ball was dropped from the top of a wall. Each time it hit the ground, it rebounded half of the
height from which it had fallen. When the ball rebounded the second time, the greatest height the ball
reached was 2 m. Find the height of the wall from which the ball was dropped. (Strategy: Draw a picture
and Work backwards.)

7.

A group of girls lined up in rows with an equal number of girls in each row. Judy was in the second last
row. There were 5 rows in front of her. She was third from the left and sixth from the right. How many girls
were there altogether? (Strategy: Draw a picture.)

8.

Jim, Leo, Sam, Roy and Tom took part in a road race. Leo was the fastest boy with a time of 30 minutes.
Sam took 5 minutes more than the fastest boy. Toms time was 32 minutes. Jims time was 8 minutes more
than Toms. Roy took 1 minute less than Jim. Who was the slowest boy and what was his time? (Strategy:
Draw a diagram.)

9.

Six thumbtacks are needed to pin a notice on a board

as shown in the figure. To pin 2 notices side-by-side
as shown in the next figure, 9 thumbtacks are
needed. To pin 2 notices one on top of the other as
g
g
shown in the last figure, 10 thumbtacks are needed.
g Notice g
If 7 notices are to be pinned up in 2 rows (with 3
g
g
notices in the upper row and 4 notices in the
6 thumbtacks used
lower row), how many thumbtacks are needed
altogether? (Strategies: Draw a picture and Act
it out.)

g
g
g
g Notice g Notice g
g
g
g

9 thumbtacks used

g
g Notice
g
g Notice
g

g
g
g
g
g

10 thumbtacks used

10. An envelope containing a letter has a total mass of 25 g. If the mass of the envelope is 25% that of the
letter, what is the mass of the envelope? (Strategy: Draw a model.)
1
of Alices age. Mr Wus age is 3 times as Alices age. If Mr Wu is 40 years older than John,
3
how old is Alice? (Strategy: Draw a model.)

11. Johns age is

12. Sasoy saved some money on Monday. After that, he saved $1.50 more each day than the day before. He
found that he had saved $25 by Friday. How much money did he save on Monday?(Strategy: Draw a
model.)
C Problem Solving Strategies (Guess and Check)
13. Miss Dell bought a bag for $105. She paid the cashier in $10 and $5 notes. If there were fifteen notes
altogether, how many $10 notes were there? Use the Guess and Check method to find your answer. One has
been done for you.
Number of $10
notes

Number of $5
notes

Total value of notes

1st Guess

14

(14 $10) + (1 $5) = $145

2nd Guess

12

3rd Guess

10

4th Guess

5th Guess

6th Guess

14. A book is opened and the sum of the page numbers facing each other is 309. What pages of the book have
you turned to?

15. A book is opened and the product of the page numbers facing each other is 1056. What pages of the book
have you turned to?
16. In a test, there are 25 multiple-choice questions. 4 marks are awarded for each correct answer and 1 mark is
deducted for each incorrect answer. If George wants to score 65 marks or more, what is the least number of
questions he must answer correctly? (Use the Guess and Check method to find the answer.)
Number of
Number of
Marks
Marks
Total
incorrect
correct answers
scored
deducted
marks
answers
1st Guess
2nd Guess
3rd Guess
4th Guess
5th Guess
6th Guess
7th Guess
17. Judy is given $5 of pocket money every week while Mary is given $8 for the same period. If Judy has $33
more than Mary at first, by which week will Marys savings be more than Judys?
Week
Judys savings
Marys savings
0
$33
0
1
$38
$8
2
$43
$16

Brain Provokers
A Problem Solving Strategies (Make a Systematic List)
1. Mr and Mrs. Lee have two children, Arnie and Ron. They are taking a family photograph by sitting on a
bench facing the camera. If Mr. and Mrs Lee are not to be separated at any time, find all the possible
seating arrangements by filling in the table below. Five arrangements have been done for you.
Sitting arrangements
Pose 1:
Pose 2:
Pose 3:
Pose 4:
Pose 5:
Pose 6:
Pose 7:
Pose 8:
Pose 9:
Pose 10:
Pose 11:
Pose 12:
2.

Mr Lee
Mrs Lee
Arnie
Arnie
Ron

Mrs. Lee
Mr Lee
Mr Lee
Mrs Lee
Arnie

Arnie
Arnie
Mrs Lee
Mr Lee
Mr Lee

Ron
Ron
Ron
Ron
Mrs. Lee

Find all the odd numbers that can be formed by rearranging the following digits. For each number, each
digit can only be used once.
2

You can do this by completing the table below.

1-digit odd
2- digit odd
3-digit odd
number
number
number

4-digit odd
number

23

263

2683

283

2863

B Problem Solving Strategies (Draw a Picture, Diagram or Model)

3. A farmer has a plot of land measuring 50 m by 30 m. He wants to plant durian trees on the plot in rows.
The trees are to be planted 5 m apart and at least 3 m away from the edges of the plot. What is the greatest
number of trees that can be planted? (Strategy: Draw a picture.)
4.

There are 12 girls in a group. Each of them knows either cooking, sewing or both skills. In a ll, 8 girls can
cook and 8 girls can sew. By shading the model below, find the smallest number of girls who know both
skills. (Strategy: Draw a model.)

Number of girls in the group:

Number of girls who can cook:
Number of girls who can sew:
5.

In a group of 14 boys, each boy likes to eat either apples or pears, or both fruits. In all, 7 of them like to eat
apples like to eat apples and 12 of them like to eat pears. By shading the model below, find the smallest
number of boys who like both fruits. (Strategy: Draw a model.)

Number of boys in the group:

Number of boys who like apple:
Number of boys who like pear:
6.

A train, 350 m long, enters a tunnel of length 650 m. It travels at a speed of 60 km/h. How much time will
it take the train to clear the tunnel? (Strategy: Draw a picture.)

C Problem Solving Strategies (Guess and Check)

7. Rads has $8 worth of fifty-cent and twenty-cent coins. There are altogether 25 coins. Find the number of
fifty-cent coins and twenty-cent coins Rads has.
8.

A book is opened and the sum of the page numbers facing each other is 1993. What pages of the book have
you turned to?

9.

A book is opened and the product of the page numbers facing each other is 9702. What pages of the book
have you turned to?

Prepared by:
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