Problem Solving:

When We Use it in the Real World

 Problem Solving is a principle that is taught in math class, but it’s used in every subject area. Problem Solving is a skill that every person will use in the real world from, deciding on whether or not there’s enough cake for every person at the party, to strategizing in the workplace. Problem Solving is an essential life skill that students will use in, and out of the classroom.

 

                                    

When initially encountering a problem, it can seem overwhelming, but with Polya’s Problem-Solving Principle it can be broken down into four simple steps. The first step in this principle is to understand the problem. This step may seem obvious, but this step requires analyzing the problem. What is the problem asking of you as the problem solver? Do you understand all the words in the question? Do you need a peer to help explain the problem? Before moving on to step 2, the question must be fully understood.

The second step in Polya’s principle is to devise a plan. When this step is being used in a mathematical context, planning can call for developing strategies, and recognizing the correct strategy to use for the particular question. These strategies can include: guess and check, looking for patterns, making diagrams, tables, or orderly lists, eliminate possibilities, use a formula, or think of a similar problem you may have solved prior. When a strategy has been selected, it’s time to move onto step 3, which is to carry out the plan. This step may take some patience, but remember that if one strategy doesn’t work, you can discard it for another.

    The final step is to look back at your work. Once you have successfully completed your problem, looking back at the strategy used to reach the answer is the key to solving similar problems in the future.

  One problem you may encounter in which you may need to use problem solving is:

 If there are a total of 18 kids coming to your birthday party, and one cake mix serves a total of 8 people, how many boxes of cake should you ask your mom to buy?

On your class visit to the zoo, the zoo keeper asked the students they will be feeding the elephants but he’s having trouble deciding how many buckets to bring. Each elephant got one bucket. How many buckets should they bring if:

There are more than 8 elephants, less than 10, and there is an odd number of them.

Problem solving may look scary at first, but Polya’s Problem-Solving Principle breaks solving a problem into steps that simplify this process. Whether your solving a problem in the classroom, or out of it, Polya’s steps can come in handy!

The link below provides interactive problem-solving games for kids.

http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/problemsolving.html