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Real-Life Problems

We can use our knowledge of number relationships, number facts and inverse operations to solve real-life problems. These are sometimes written down for us as word problems so that we can practise.

Word problems

Word problems

  • Word problems are a way of writing down a real life maths problem we need to solve.
  • We need to work out what equation (number sentence) fits the word problem.
  • Then we need to find the missing number.
Example

Example

  • Here is an example of a word problem:
    • Megan is three times the number of marbles of her brother James.
    • James has 13 marbles
  • How many marbles does Megan have?
Missing number problem

Missing number problem

  • We can write this as a missing number problem with the equation:
    • 3 × 13 = ?
Number fact

Number fact

  • We can use our 3 times table to work out the answer:
    • 3 × 3 = 9
    • 3 × 10 = 30
  • 30 + 9 = 39, so that means 3 × 13 = 39.
Answer

Answer

  • We have not finished yet because we need to answer the question.
    • How many marbles does Megan have?
  • Megan has 39 marbles.
Jump to other topics
1

Year 3 - Number

2

Year 3 - Measurement

3

Year 3 - Geometry

4

Year 3 - Statistics

5

Year 4 - Number

6

Year 4 - Measurement

7

Year 4 - Geometry

8

Year 4 - Statistics

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