Solving maths problems - KS2 Maths - Year 4

How to solve maths problems

Maths problems are usually written in words and often have more than one step.

You might not be able to work them out in your head.

You need to work in steps to find the answer:

Step 1 - Read through the problem carefully to work out how to solve the problem.

Step 2 - Find out what answer the problem is asking for.

Step 3 - Work out the calculation for the first step of the problem.

Step 4 - Work out the calculation for the second step of the problem.

Step 5 - Work out the final answer and check it makes sense.

Complete this interactive activity to learn how to solve maths problems. Then put your knowledge to the test.

Let's look at using these steps to solve this problem:

40 children are inside at after school club. Half of those children go outside to play. Then 9 more go outside.

How many children are left inside?

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Step 1
Read through the problem.
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This problem says "40 children are inside at after school club. Half of those children go outside to play. Then 9 more go outside. How many children are left inside?"
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Step 2
Find out what the problem is asking.
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This problem is asking how many children are left inside at after school club.
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Step 3
Work out the calculation for the first step of the problem.
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First, half of the children go out to play. Half of 40 is 20.
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Step 4
Work out the calculation for the next step of the problem.
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9 more children went outside to play. There were 20 children left inside at after school club after the first group left. Then you know 9 more children left. 20 - 9 = 11
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Step 5
Work out the final answer to check it makes sense.
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11 children are left in the room. To check your work, use the inverse operation, which is addition. If 20 go outside, another 9 leave, and 11 stay, that equals 40 children. As 20 + 9 + 11 = 40, your answer is correct!