LESSON
1
Introduction to
Solving Word
Problems
In every area of mathematics, you will encounter ‘‘word’’ problems. Some
students are very good at solving word problems while others are not. When
teaching word problems in prealgebra and algebra, I often hear ‘‘I don’t
know where to begin,’’ or ‘‘I have never been able to solve word problems.’’
A great deal has been written about solving word problems. A Hungarian
mathematician, George Polya, did much in the area of problem solving.
His book, entitledHow To Solve It, has been translated into at least 17 lan-
guages, and it explains the basic steps of problem solving. These steps are
explained next.
Step 1. Understand the problem.First read the problem carefully several
times. Underline or write down any information given in the1
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