MATH EXPRESSIONS PROBLEM TYPES

Addition & Subtraction

REPRESENTATION
PROBLEM EXAMPLE
USING THE MODEL
Math Mountain:
Sum
Miss Ronhovde has 10
?
white balloons and 20
red balloons for the
game. How many
balloons does she have
Addend
Addend in all?
10 white + 20 red
Math Mountain
Take Apart
(Subtraction)

Miss Ronhovde had 30

balloons at the game. 10
of the balloons flew
away. How many
balloons does she have
left?

30
-

10

Comparison Bars

Shannon read 200

pages in her book. Joe
read 75 more pages
than Shannon. How
many pages did Joe
read?

Explanation:

200

75

We always put whoever or whatever is the biggest/most

in the top, because that bar is the largest. Whatever is
smaller goes in to the smaller bar. The circle is the
difference between the two numbers, as the picture
shows the bottom two shapes togher are equal to the
top bar. In this example, Shannon read less than Joe so
her 200 pages goes in the bottom. Since Joe read 75
more pages, that is the difference in the circle.
Together, those numbers tell us Joe read 275 pages.

Multiplication & Division

REPRESENTATION
PROBLEM EXAMPLE
USING THE MODEL
Equal Groups:
Mrs. Swamp bought 4
?
boxes of markers.
There are 8 markers in
each box. How many
markers did Mrs.


8
8
8
8
Swamp buy?
Since theres an equal number of markers in each box,
they are considered equal groups. We have 4 boxes of
markers, so there are 4 groups of 8. This is written as
4 x 8 in Math Expressions. You can solve by using
countbys (written or on fingers,) fact memorization, or
even adding the groups: 8+8+8+8=32 to find the
answer. All are acceptable strategies in multiplication! J

Explanation:

Nick bought 4 boxes of

markers. There were
32 markers in all. How
many markers were in
each box?

Equal Shares:
#

32

We know the total number Nick purchased (32) so we

put that at the top. Those markers are equally shared,
Explanation:
or divided, between four groups (boxes.) We draw 4 lines
off of the 32, showing it is equally divided into the 4
groups. Students could solve by using 4s countbys to
figure out ? x 4 =32, the equations 32 / 4 = m or m
x 4 = 32, or may list 32 dots into the circles, one per
group at a time. All are acceptable division strategies J
My kitchen wall is 8 feet by
8
Area:
length x width = AREA 5 feet. What is the area
40 sq. ft.
of the wall?
5
lxw=A
The yearbook pictures are * * * * * * *
Array:
arranged in 3 rows of 7
*******
students.
How
many
rows x columns = Total
*******
pictures are there?