Reasoning About Problems ◆ 97Table Problems
Table problems are very important (see Figures 6.15, 6.16 and 6.17). They
also help students to organize information, to handle different pieces of
information and to look for patterns. Students should do these problems
with small numbers first, so that they can act them out, use manipulatives
and then go to drawings and diagrams and eventually work completely
abstractly with the table and numbers.
June and Carl built 4 snowmen. Each snowman had 5 buttons.
How many buttons did they use in all?
How many buttons will they need for 5 snowman?
If they have 45 buttons, how many snowman can they make?
If they have 12 snowmen, how many buttons will they need?Make a table:Explain your thinking.
Students should be able to explain that some are girls’ names and
some are boys’ names. The overlap is boys’ and girls’ names that start
with the letter M.Figure 6.15 Table Problem
Snowman Buttons
1 5
2 10
3 15
4 20
5?Another Example
Kelly has $10. She wants to buy a new game. She is saving $2 a day for the next
week. How much money will she have in 3 days, 4 days, 5 days? Can you find
out how much money she will have in 7 days without filling out the entire table?