Math Drills
Working Backward Review
4Word Problems
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What this worksheet covers
Rather than following a situation forward, children run it backward from the result to find the starting amount. For situations where an amount increased and for situations where it decreased, finding the size of the change and finding the starting amount are combined so that one consistent line of reasoning takes hold.
Read more
Reading a situation such as I was given 3 more and now have 12 as an addition, and answering 12 + 3 = 15, is common. The assumption that an increase means addition pushes every answer to the high side. The same assumption works in reverse for decreases, where subtracting anyway leaves the number too small.
The assumption held so far, that turning the situation straight into an expression gives the answer, breaks down here. A new way of reading is needed, tracing back from a number after an increase or a decrease to find the original amount, and this way of reading, used all the way through Order and Position Word Problems, keeps being used in Various Word Problems in grade 3, where several calculations are combined.
- Increasing Situations · Finding the Amount Added1 question
- Increasing Situations · Finding the Starting Amount2 questions
- Decreasing Situations · Finding the Amount Removed1 question
- Decreasing Situations · Finding the Starting Amount2 questions
Questions & answers
Problems and answers on this worksheet
These are the problems in “Working Backward Word Problems”, shown with their answers.
(1)In the forest, there were 36 acorns. Someone picked up some more, so there were 62. How many acorns did they pick up? Answer □
Answer: 26acorns
(2)There were how many pencils. 26 more were given, so there were 58. How many were there at first? Answer □
Answer: 32pencils
(3)At the poultry farm, there were 36 chicks. Some flew away, so 16 were left. How many chicks flew away? Answer □
Answer: 20chicks
(4)In the box, there were how many candies. 24 more were given, so there were 52. How many were in it at first? Answer □
Answer: 28candies
(5)There were some dogs at the dog run. 19 went home, so 34 were left. How many were there at first? Answer □
Answer: 53dogs
(6)There were some cats at the cat cafe. 13 were adopted, so 29 were left. How many were there at first? Answer □
Answer: 42cats
