Weekly Rich Open Problems for Mathematical Problem Solving Grade 4
Bruce Williams. CreatingRealMathematicians.com
Problem Solving 1
The median age of the animals I saw at the zoo was 7 years of age.
How old are all the animals I saw?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 2
When I was writing the answers to multiplication problems I noticed some numbers were coming up more than others.
Which number do you think would come up the most times.
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 3
As I was walking down the street near my house I noticed all the windows were in arrays.
The window cleaner charges $2.50 per window to clean.
How much would he charge to clean all the windows in my street?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 4
Mum made me share my M&M's with my family.
I said there was not enough to share them fairly, but there was enough for more than 15 each.
How many M&M's were in my packet?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 5
I spent a total of $19:35 on 7 different presents that all cost different amounts.
What did I buy and how much did each present cost? (Clue: none of them cost exactly whole dollars)
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 6
The 7 penguins stood in order from smallest to largest weight.
They all weighed between 5 and 6 Kilograms.
How much did each penguin weigh?
What was their total weight?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 7
I went to the Theme Park and came back with $3:72 in change.
What did I spend all my money on, and how much money did I take to the Theme Park?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 8
When I went to the Zoo I counted 58 legs.
How many animals might this have been?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 9
The aquarium manager said the jellyfish double in number every year.
How many jelly fish do they have now?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 10
Mom gave me a list of 10 jobs to do in 2 hours.
Each job took a different amount of time to do.
How long did I spend on each job?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 11
If one shark can eat 7 big fish.
Each big fish can eat 5 little fish.
Each little fish can eat 4 crabs.
Each crab can eat 3 plants.
How many plants are needed for one shark?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 12
Draw a treasure map with a list of directions on where to find the treasure.
Use directions such as "Starting at the big rock, take 5 steps East. Turn Clockwise 1/4 turn. Take 10 steps South." etc.
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 13
If all the Tangram pieces together weigh 100 ounces, how much does each piece weigh?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 14
At the store sale there were two pieces of clothing I really liked.
One was on sale for $10:00 off.
The other was on sale for 10% off.
Which was cheaper? Explain.
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 15
I had saved $100 for my holiday.
If I spent 10% of what was left each day, how much did I have left by the end of the holiday?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 16
The farmer planted 24 carrots in an array.
A rabbit ate all the carrots around the perimeter.
How many carrots were left?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 17
The shopping mall gave me 4 vouchers to use for their sale.
They were 10% discount, 20% discount, $5 discount and $15 discount. How much money did I spend if I used all 4 vouchers?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 18
Dad said he would double my allowance each week if I worked hard at school. My allowance was $1:00. How much is it now?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 19
My friends garden is totally symmetrical. What does it look like?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 20
I noticed the toys in the shop window were in an array.
How many toys were there?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 21
The animals in the zoo stood on each other heads to try to make an escape over the 30 foot tall wall.
If there was one of each animal and each animal was a different height, with the largest at the bottom and the smallest on the top,
what did the escape look like (include the heights of each animal) and who got away?
How tall was each animal?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.
Problem Solving 22
The pet store had a graph of all the different pets in the store.
What did the graph look like?
Solve using Pictures / Numbers / Words.