Word problems challenge students in both math and reading skills.
Math word problems for 4th graders should challenge the students math and reading-comprehension abilities. When you create word problems for 4th graders, make the problems relevant to their current skills. Do not create problems that are so easy that they are quickly bored and don't learn anything new. Neither should the problems be so difficult that students give up and decline the opportunity to push themselves a little further.
Elementary Algebra
A sample of an elementary algebra word problem for 4th-grade students to try is: "Brandon has $97 and wants to take as many friends as possible, including himself, to the movie theater. Brandon knows the cost of each movie ticket is $11. Create an algebraic expression to help Brandon figure out how many people he may bring to the theater with the money he has." This problem is simply approached by setting up the cost of each ticket times an unknown variable representing the amount of people who can go to the theater; which must be less than or equal to $97. Now the students will solve the word problem by dividing $97 by $11 and rounding down. This will bring them to the conclusion that Brandon can take seven friends with him to the movie theater.
Division
A sample of a suitable 4th-grade division problem is: "Joey has 15 sticks of gum, 45 chocolate candies and 90 marbles in his backpack. Joey wants to evenly divide all of these items among his 15 friends. How many sticks of gum, chocolate candies and marbles will each of Joey's friends receive?" This word problem encompasses three individual division problems into one; the students must divide each item by 15 to learn how many of each item Joey's friends will receive. The solved problem should be written as, "Each of Joey's friends will receive one stick of gum, three chocolate candies and six marbles."
Time Math
Once students understand the concept of reading time, they must learn the principle of basic time math, which requires them to add and subtract time to the the initial time. For example: "Trish starts work at 9:00 A.M. It takes her 15 minutes to shower, 25 minutes to get dressed, 15 minutes to cook breakfast and 35 minutes to drive to work. What is the latest time Trish can wake up and still make it to work?" This question is solved by adding all of the times, which equal 90 minutes, minus the starting time of work. The students will have to deduct 90 minutes of time from 9:00 A.M. They will discover that the latest time Trish can wake up is 7:30 A.M.
Geometry
An example of a geometry question for 4th-grade students is: "Mrs. Robles wishes to cover her lawn with grass. Her yard measures 25 feet wide and 20 feet long. If the lawn company sells 10-square-foot patches of grass for $20, how much will it cost Mrs. Robles to cover her lawn in grass?" This question will first require the student to learn the square footage of the lawn by multiplying 20 times 25, which yields a product of 500. Now divide 500 by 10 to learn the number of grass patches you will need, which is 50. Now multiply 50 times 20 to learn the final cost for Mrs. Robles is $1,000.
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