Anderson Multi-step Problems
To Be Made Available for Teachers at A:PDQ Web Site
What is still needed:
1) Grade level fine-tuning.
2) Drawings indicated with original problems are reproduced here (but some still need improvement). Would other drawings be appropriate? What is generally done on state and district assessments with regard to drawings or other visuals? Does it depend on the grade level?
3) Serious thought about the wording of questions, the specific answer choices given for multiple choice, diversity in use of names and activities described, etc. This may well be on-going, as teachers try these problems and suggest improvements. See specific notes about wordings on some questions below.
4) Additional problems. Any suggestions?
5) Should we have an answer key?
The problems have been ordered by grade level and numbered straight through, so we can more easily reference them. When a second problem was a variation of the first, it is listed after the original, even though it may be for a slightly different grade level (unless the new grade level was indicated).
Grade K
1. Billy and his mom and dad were going to the zoo. It cost $2 for each person to enter the zoo. How much would it cost for the family to go to the zoo?
2. Ms. Newell’s class went to the zoo. They saw 2 zebras, 1 lion, and 3 elephants. The students were allowed to feed 1/2 of the animals. How many animals did they feed? Add drawings—can we find some clip art of these animals? I used shapes until then.
4
3. If we have 5 people in our center, how many pieces of pizza would we need for each person to get one piece of pizza?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 5
4. We have 5 people in our center. How many pieces would we need for all 5 of us to get 2 pieces of pizza apiece?
a. 2
b. 5
c. 10
5. We have 5 people in our center. If a pizza has 4 pieces, how many pizzas would we need to order so each of us could get one piece of pizza?
a. 1
b. 4
c. 2
6. We have 5 people in our center. How many pizzas would we need to order for all five of us to get 2 pieces of pizza apiece?
a. 3
b. 5
c. 10
Grade 1
7. Sally has 10 dimes. She wants to buy taffy for her 2 brothers and herself. Each piece of taffy costs 10 cents. Does she have enough money to buy taffy for everyone? How much will she need? There are two questions here. Are they two different alternatives to the same question or should this be a two-part question? Also, should the answers be in dollars or cents for 1st grade?
8. John has 2 quarters in his pocket. The candy he wants costs 60 cents. Does he have enough money? If not how much will he need to go back and get?
9. Lucy wants to buy a piece of candy for each person in her family. She will need a piece of candy for her mom, dad, sister, brother and herself. If each piece of candy costs 5 cents, how much money will Lucy need?
10. Tony plants three rows of plants. Each row has a plant with red flowers, a plant with blue flowers, a plant with yellow flowers, and a plant with pink flowers. How many flower plants did Tony plant?
Grade 3,4
11. Half of the Smith family members are going to the circus. There are 12 family members, tickets cost $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. Two adults and 4 children will be going to the circus. Mr. Smith has $25.00 to pay for the tickets. How much change will he get back after paying for the tickets?
Grade 3,4,5
12. Torey has five friends and twenty-six pieces of bubblegum. If she wants to give each friend and herself one piece of bubblegum each day, how many days will it take Torey to run out of bubblegum.
Grade 4
13. Amelia wants a tricycle for her birthday. Twelve of her friends are pitching in to help pay for the bike. If the bike costs $96, and each child contributes $10 from their weekly allowance, how much money would they have left altogether?
14. Patrick wants to buy a pair of boots. There is a half off sale at Famous Footwear. The original price of the boots is $54.00. Patrick gives the clerk $30.00. How much change did he get back? The original problem also asked, “How much did he save on the boots?” Should we add a second question? The choices were $24, $27, and $3.
15. The fourth graders are going on a field trip next week. There are 86 students, 5 teachers, and 10 parent volunteers going. The classes have $435.00 so far. How may more students need to bring $5.00 so they will have enough money, if adults cost $7.00 and children cost $5.00?
16. Sammy and his 8 friends are taking a trip. They need to travel 840 miles in 3 days. If their car goes 35 miles for every gallon and their gas tank holds 4 gallons, how many times will they have to fill their tank?
17. Matt and 4 friends are going to the pizza place at the mall. Matt’s mom gave him $20.00 so he and his friends could eat lunch. If each slice of pizza costs $3.79 including tax, how many slices of pizza can he buy without going over $20.00?
Will Matt have any change left over?
18. Mindy went to buy a pair of jeans at the mall. She found the perfect pair and they were $46.59. If Mindy pays with a $50.00 bill what combination of bills and coins would give Mindy her correct change?
Grades 4,5
19. Dantez is going to the store to buy cookies for his classmates. He needs to buy enough cookies for 28 kids to have 3 cookies each. If cookies come in packages of 20 for $2.86. How much money will Dantez spend on cookies for his classmates.
20. Maria makes $6.50 per hour to clean her neighbor’s house. It takes Maria 3 1/2 hours to clean each week. She is saving her money to buy a new stereo that costs $85.99. How many weeks will it take Maria to save enough money to buy the stereo.
21. Jon got in trouble because he was doodling in class. In his drawing, he drew a house that had a square with an isosceles triangle for a roof. One side of the square measured 6”, one side of the triangle measured 4”. His teacher told him to measure the perimeter of the triangle forming the roof of his house. What did he find to be the perimeter of the roof of the house. The original problem had 3” for one side of the triangle. We changed it to 4”. Why did we need to do that? This could be a class discussion question for a geometry session. Should the drawing already show the dimensions on it?
22. Package of notebook paper $0.25 Pencils $0 .05 each Erasers $0.03 each
Package of 8 markers $1.00 Pens $0.10 each Folders.10 each
Sam needs to buy school supplies. The list of supplies he must buy includes 5 pencils, 1 eraser, pack of markers, notebook paper, and 5 folders. How much money will he need to get from his mom to pay for the supplies?
23. Caryn wants to save her weekly allowance to buy a new skateboard, the one she wants costs $34.95. If Caryn earns $10.00 per week for allowance, how many weeks will she need to save her money to be able to buy the skateboard? The original problem also asked, “How much will she have left for bubblegum?” Should we add a second question? The choices were $4.95, $5.05, and $3.95.
a. 2
b. 3
c. 5
d. 4
24. Mrs. Jones class is having a pizza party. There are 24 children in her class. 1/3 want pepperoni, 2/3 want cheese. Each pizza has eight slices. Cheese slices cost $1.00 each. Pepperoni slices cost $1.50 each. How much money will the class need in order to buy the pizzas for each child to have his or her preferred slice?
25. Mrs. Smith wanted to take 5 students to the soccer game. The cost was $5.00 a student and $7.00 for adults. Mrs. Smith had a coupon, if she bought two student tickets she got a third one for free. How much did it cost for Mrs. Smith and 5 students to go to the soccer game?
Grade 5
26. Carie wants to buy lunch for herself and 3 friends. They each need a sandwich and a drink. One friend can’t eat hotdogs. She has $10.00. What would be the least amount of money she could spend? The original question also asked what items should be ordered. That would be a good question, too, but maybe better for a free-response question.
Hamburger $1.59
Cheeseburger $1.89
Hotdog $0.89
Soda $.75
Milkshake $1.99
27. The 5th grade had a fundraiser. They sold 43 pickles the first week, 67 the second week, and 58 the 3rd week. The 5th grade has 300 pickles to sell. If the average remained the same weekly, how many weeks total would it take to sell all of the pickles?
Grade unknown
28. Ms. Smith made 6 apple pies for her block party and cut them all into equal pieces. 36 people came and each had 1 piece. How did Ms. Smith divide her pies? Answers?
29. Angie went to buy school supplies. She needed 3 pencils. Each cost 35 cents, and pencils were “buy 2, get 1 free”. 1 ruler cost 15 cents and a notebook cost 40 cents. She paid with a $5 bill. How much change did she get back? Answers?
30. Tommy’s morning is always the same. Everything he has to do to get ready takes him 1 hr. Half of the time he is in the shower, 1/4 of the time he is getting dressed, 1/4 of the time he is eating. How many minutes does he take for each of the last two activities (eating and getting dressed)? We reworded this a couple of times. Does this wording ask about the timing of each of these separately, as we think the writers intended? Should the question be about the total time of eating and getting dressed, combined? Or should we just ask about one activity?
31. Johnny, Jamie, Jordan, and Jane went to Worlds of Fun. It is $29.95 each to get in and to ride most of the rides. The Bungee jump costs $16.00 and the bumper cars cost $8.00. Johnny and Joe pay the extra to bungee and ride the bumper cars. Jamie and Jordan only do the Bumper cars, because they don’t like heights. If they each brought $58.00 how much change did each of the two who did everything get back that day?
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