Ice -Breaker - I
Students will work in small collaborative groups and create a list of "common language words" for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The whole class will reconvene and through discussions each group will add any words that are omitted from their list. Some common language words have different meanings depending on the content of the questions. To ensure that students understand this, the following exercise will be presented. The emphasis will not be on solving the problems but the operations and wording.
Problem 1:
- a) Andy has 38 videotapes. His friend Roger has 27 videotapes. How many more video tapes does Andy have than Roger? (11 videotapes)
- b) Toni has 21 beads. Her friend Zora has 6 beads. How many more beads does Toni have than Zora? (15 beads)
Generally, the word "more" suggests addition. However, in this problem set the operation is subtraction.
Problem 2:
- a) A watch costs $167. A camera costs $48 more than the watch. What is the cost of the camera? ($215)
- b) My old pogo-stick record was 349 jumps. Today I made 532 more jumps than that. What's my new Pogo-stick record? (881 jumps)
In these problems, the word "more" implies addition. Appendix II has more problems that address this issue.
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