1. How to solve a math problem!

2. Step One Read the problem

3. Step Two Find out, What am I supposed to find out?

4. IF it’s too complicated to understand the 1 st time…

5. Read the problem again and AGAIN!

6. Look for clue words Step Three

7. To show you… which operation to use

8. Addition and…add… addend…plus… sum…more… more than… in all…total… all together… perimeter… combined

9. Subtraction Minuend…subtrahend difference…subtract minus…take away… less than…remain… are left…have left how much more fewer…are not… decreased by… how much change (money) is left

10. Multiplication factor…product …times…of… multiplied by… area…volume… each…twice=2x …thrice=3x… …how many times more…

11. Division dividend…divisor …quotient… divided by…per… half = ÷ 2… separated…rate… ratio…fraction… decimal…part… percent…

12. Beware… Of red herrings! (false clues) In this case, numbers that are just there to trick you, but are not needed to solve the problem.

13. What to do… if you’ve read the question more than once, and you still don’t know which way to turn..

14. Then just do something! You know there are four operations and you’ll have to do at least one of them. So pick one. You know you need to do that operation using at least two numbers, so pick two of the numbers in the problem. Then either add ‘em, subtract ‘em, multiply ‘em, or divide ‘em. You may be wrong, but YOU MAY BE RIGHT!

15. Step Four Solve the problem

16. Step Five Now think… Does this answer make sense? Would I expect this to be the answer?

17. Step Six Ask yourself… Are there more parts to this question? (Some questions have two or more parts!)

18. Remember If you ONLY answer half the question, EVEN if you get that half 100% right… That’s only 50% of the question... And 50% is an F!

19. Step Seven Check your work… just work backwards, using the opposite operations and see if you end up where you began.

20. Congratulations! That’s how to solve a math problem. Some more clues for math sleuths… Always try something. Never try nothing. Show your work and hand it in. Even if you don’t make it the whole way, you may have come close.