Guided Practice
Learn
In this guided practice lesson, you'll work through multi-step word problems step by step. Remember to break down each problem, solve one step at a time, and check your work!
Problem-Solving Steps
- Read the entire problem carefully.
- Identify what the question is asking.
- Find the important numbers and information.
- Plan which operations to use (add, subtract, multiply, divide).
- Solve step by step, showing your work.
- Check that your answer makes sense.
Examples
Worked Example
Problem: Emma has 24 stickers. She gives 6 stickers to her brother and then splits the rest equally among 3 friends. How many stickers does each friend get?
Step 1: Start with 24 stickers
Step 2: Subtract what she gave away: 24 - 6 = 18 stickers left
Step 3: Divide equally among 3 friends: 18 / 3 = 6 stickers each
Answer: Each friend gets 6 stickers.
Check: 6 + (6 x 3) = 6 + 18 = 24. Correct!
Practice Quiz
Solve each multi-step problem. Show your work step by step, then check your answer.
1. A baker made 48 cookies. She put 12 in a box to save and then divided the rest equally onto 4 plates. How many cookies are on each plate?
Show Answer
9 cookies per plate
Step 1: 48 - 12 = 36 cookies left
Step 2: 36 / 4 = 9 cookies per plate
2. Marcus had $20. He spent $7 on a book and $5 on a snack. How much money does he have left?
Show Answer
$8
Step 1: $7 + $5 = $12 spent in total
Step 2: $20 - $12 = $8 left
3. A movie theater has 8 rows of seats. Each row has 15 seats. If 97 people are sitting, how many seats are empty?
Show Answer
23 empty seats
Step 1: Find total seats: 8 x 15 = 120 seats
Step 2: Subtract people sitting: 120 - 97 = 23 empty seats
4. Lisa collected 35 shells on Monday and 28 shells on Tuesday. She gave 15 shells to her sister. How many shells does Lisa have now?
Show Answer
48 shells
Step 1: 35 + 28 = 63 shells total
Step 2: 63 - 15 = 48 shells left
5. A school ordered 6 boxes of pencils. Each box has 24 pencils. The pencils are shared equally among 8 classrooms. How many pencils does each classroom get?
Show Answer
18 pencils per classroom
Step 1: 6 x 24 = 144 pencils total
Step 2: 144 / 8 = 18 pencils per classroom
6. Tom read 45 pages on Saturday and 38 pages on Sunday. His book has 150 pages total. How many more pages does he need to read to finish?
Show Answer
67 pages
Step 1: 45 + 38 = 83 pages read
Step 2: 150 - 83 = 67 pages left
7. A farmer has 72 apples. He puts 8 apples in each basket. Then he sells 5 baskets. How many apples does he have left?
Show Answer
32 apples
Step 1: 72 / 8 = 9 baskets
Step 2: 5 x 8 = 40 apples sold
Step 3: 72 - 40 = 32 apples left
8. Maya earns $8 per hour babysitting. She worked 3 hours on Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. How much did she earn in total?
Show Answer
$56
Step 1: 3 + 4 = 7 hours total
Step 2: 7 x $8 = $56
(Or: Friday: 3 x $8 = $24, Saturday: 4 x $8 = $32, Total: $24 + $32 = $56)
9. A pet store has 5 fish tanks. Each tank has 12 fish. They sold 23 fish today. How many fish are left in the store?
Show Answer
37 fish
Step 1: 5 x 12 = 60 fish total
Step 2: 60 - 23 = 37 fish left
10. Carlos bought 3 packs of trading cards. Each pack has 15 cards. He already had 27 cards. He then gave 12 cards to his friend. How many cards does Carlos have now?
Show Answer
60 cards
Step 1: 3 x 15 = 45 new cards
Step 2: 45 + 27 = 72 cards total
Step 3: 72 - 12 = 60 cards
Check Your Understanding
Did you show your work for each step? Could you check your answers by working backward? These habits will help you succeed on tests!
Next Steps
- Practice showing all your steps clearly
- Try making up your own multi-step problems
- Move on to Lesson 4: Using Diagrams