28

THE VALUE OF MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS

Richard Kalman
Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools

All too often a simple exercise is dressed up with a

few words, made to look like it would be of interest to a Once you have a student’s interest,
young student, and then called a problem. That does not you have that student’s intellect.
make it a problem. It may force him or her to decode the
words, but it fails to “unleash the thinking part of my
brain,” as one elementary school student put it when de- ♦ Many good problems set a firm foundation for later
scribing the Math Olympiad contests. A problem is a studies. This is especially true of problems taken from
question for which the reader has no clear-cut algorithm future topics, but capable of being tackled with less
or procedure already in place. sophisticated tools. For example, many word problems
from algebra can be solved using only common sense,
Thus, problem solving is what we do as we will see below.
when we do not know what to do. ♦ Many good problems can be solved in multiple
ways. When students discuss how they solved a prob-
This powerful statement has become popularly ac- lem, the variety of their approaches can be breathtaking.
cepted among many of those who teach problem solving. I have seen a single problem during a single period gen-
Its power lies in how well it governs our decision-making erate as many as 17 different methods! Thus a
as we try to help students to think mathematically. widespread review of concepts is built in, which solidi-
It is important to monitor the quality of the problems given fies past lessons. The realization that math is not
to students. Good problems have several characteristics. cut-and-dried is also built in, which encourages thought.
♦ Good problems, like good puzzles, capture the ♦ Many good problems can be extended and/or ex-
attention and interest of children. Once you have a panded. Students have written outstanding Math Fair
student’s interest, you have that student’s intellect. papers by presenting a problem that interested them,
♦ Good problems in math are not simple. They are and then creating (and solving) several variations on
rarely limited to one concept or one process, and they that problem. Creating a variation forced them to ex-
rarely fit automatic preconceptions. Most problems in amine carefully the concepts underlying the problem,
life are not simple, so we don’t prepare students for its ingredients; each new variation presented new ob-
the future if we feed them a steady diet of overly simple stacles to a solution. Student understanding was
problems. deepened. So was appreciation of the subtleties inher-
ent in mathematics.
♦ Success in solving problems builds self-confidence.
When students solve a difficult (for them) problem, ♦ Good problems always give math principles mean-
they experience the thrill of mastery, a rich feeling of ing. Students know why they need to know something.
success. Accomplishments build self-confidence in “When am I going to need this?” is rarely heard, if at
ways that empty compliments can never match. While all.
meaningful compliments are important, they are less
effective in instilling that important feeling that “I can To illustrate the above, a Math Olympiad problem that was
handle almost any challenge.” It is this kind of confi- asked of students in grades 6 and below will be used. A
dence that allows people to face all types of growth standard verbal exercise in Algebra 1, this is a rich prob-
without fear. lem for elementary school youngsters. We teachers can’t

B03 0610

Reprinted by permission from The New York State Mathematics Teachers’ Journal, Volume 53, Number 1 (March 2003).
29

help but use equations because we were taught algebra bitrarily pick a second set hoping to get a sum nearer 105,
perhaps too well. But students, not having algebraic tools repeating the procedure as often as needed. With small
at their fingertips, must use creativity and ingenuity. In a numbers this works very well, but with big numbers it can
sense, they are smarter than we are (and smarter than they be terribly tedious.
will be in a few years) because they are not yet shackled
Method 4: The “Bracket” version of Guess-and-
to convenient routines of thought. Every new problem is
Check attempts to place and keep 105 between the results
an adventure for them. The following illustrates the vari-
of two consecutive trials. Artillery and mortar personnel in
ety of paths students chose to overcome the obstacles posed
the military use a similar method to hit an unseen target.
by one unexpected problem.
The concept is to start with two trials, placing one above
our “final answer” and the other below. Each subsequent
trial then uses the numbers
The sum of 5 consecutive numbers is midway between the trial just
concluded and the closest one Problem Solving
105. What are the numbers? is what we do
on the other side of our tar-
get set. In this case, the when we do not
There are two approaches that should be used by begin- student might try 10, 11, 12, know what to do.
ners and those who are momentarily stumped: 13, and 14 first. The sum of
Guess-and-Check and Make-A-List. Both have the advan- 60 is too low. He or she might then try 24, 25, 26, 27, and
tage of allowing people to try something instead of just 28. The sum of 130 is too high. Midway between 10 and
sitting frozen behind their pencil, and both have the ad- 24 is 17, so the next trial is 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 whose
vantage of helping them to develop a strong feel for the sum is 95. Too low. Midway between 17 and 24 is 20.5;
true nature of the problem. Students should “get their hands Try perhaps 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25. The sum is 115. Too
dirty.” by trying different numbers to see what happens high. Midway between 17 and 21 is 19. The sum of 19, 20,
until that nature becomes clear. 21, 22, and 25 is 105. Just right. The Bracket Method has
Method 1: Some children will employ a true Guess- the same strengths and weaknesses as the Creep Up
and-Check approach, trying consecutive number sets Method.
completely at random. This approach could take a while.
Also, it might not yield any insights. The above four methods are mechanical. This allows
Method 2: For this problem, Make-A-List, a type of students to arrive at an answer without understanding much
organized search, has the advantage of making the correct about the nature of the problem. The important thing, of
values inevitable and the disadvantages of inefficiency and course, is that students know they are moving inexorably
slowness, as shown in the table below. To towards an answer, however slowly.
the smallest of the consecutive numbers stu- The following seven methods are much
dents would assign all the values from 1 to NUMBERS SUM
more efficient.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 15
(as it turns out) 19. Then for each, they 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 20
would list the other four numbers and cal- 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 25 Method 5: The “Build Up Method”
culate the sum, looking to see which 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 30 adapts Guess-and-Check in an extremely
5, 6, 7, 8, 9 35
fivesome added up to 105. Eventually — efficient way. First, to minimize arithmetic,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10 40
after 19 separate lists and additions — the 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 45 assume that the five consecutive numbers
five consecutive numbers whose sum is 105 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 50 have the most basic values: 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
are discovered to be 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 55
In this form of the frequently used strategy,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14 60
Method 3: The “Creep Up” version of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 65 “try a simpler related case”, think of 0, 1, 2,
Guess-and-Check relies on guesses that at- 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 70 3, and 4 as the basic numbers. Our five
13, 14, 15, 16, 17 75
tempt to move ever closer to 105, until 105 integers are consecutive, but we now need
14, 15, 16, 17, 18 80
is reached. This approach is less thorough 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 85 to build up their sum, 10, to 105 while main-
than Method 2, but it can be more efficient. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 90 taining the common difference of 1. Split
17, 18, 19, 20, 21 95 the difference of the sums equally among
Students assume any set of 5 consecutive 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 100
integers and then add them. They then ar- 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 105
the five numbers. That is, (105 – 10) ÷ 5.

Reprinted by permission from The New York State Mathematics Teachers’ Journal, Volume 53, Number 1 (March 2003).
 30

Then add the result, 19, to each of the basic numbers 0, 1, A

2, 3, and 4 to get 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. This approach B
works equally efficiently whether the given sum is 105 or C
D
98,765. E
Method 6: Level downwards all five numbers. That
is, make them all equal by removing their excesses. The
Method 8: Ignore the shaded bars. We have ten circles
second, third, fourth, and fifth consecutive numbers ex-
representing the value 10. We lack a total of 95 in order to
ceed the smallest number by 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
reach 105. Since five congruent bars represent the total of
Remove these excesses. This leaves five equal numbers.
95, each bar represents 19 circles. Combining the bars
We have also removed 10 from the sum. Then 95 is the
and circles, our five rows represent totals of 19, 20, 21,
sum of the five equal numbers, so that each number is 19.
22, and 23. This mirrors Method 5, the Build Up Method,
Add back the 1, 2, 3, and 4 to get 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.
perfectly, but with the added virtue of being visual.
This “Level Down Method” previews perfectly the
thinking involved in solving the problem algebraically. Method 9: Remove all ten white circles temporarily.
(x) + (x+1) + (x+2) + (x+3) + (x+4) =105 becomes Our diagram now consists five congruent bars represent-
5x + 10 = 105, which in turn becomes 5x = 95, which ing a total of 95. Thus each bar represents 19. Replacing
becomes x = 19. Many of the verbal problems we insist the white circles, our numbers are 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.
on relegating to algebra can be done arithmetically. With This mirrors Method 6, the Level Down Method neatly,
young students they should be, so as to lay a firm founda- but with the added virtue of being visual. Methods 5 and
tion for the later algebra by “grooving” the appropriate 6 are conceptually quite different since they focus on dif-
thought patterns. ferent things, yet diagrams demonstrate how similar their
procedures turn out to be.
I find it interesting to note the Method 10: Transfer two white circles from row E
to row A and one white circle from row D to row B, as
variety of topics that come into shown below.
play when solving one problem. A
B
C
Method 7: Many students realize that the average of D
an odd number of consecutive integers is the “middle” E
number. Therefore divide 105 by 5 to get the middle num-
All five rows now represent the same quantity, namely
ber, 21. Since the middle number is 21, the other numbers
must be 20 and 22, and 19 and 23, counting from the mean. 105 ÷ 5 = 21 . Thus the middle number is 21 and the other
numbers are 19, 20, 22, and 23. This graphic approach
This method is highly efficient, but requires an insight
shows students why Method 7 works.
many students lack. However, its reasonableness can be
made clear by examining either the table used in Method
Incidentally, this same approach is sometimes used to
2 or the diagram used in Method 10. Greater clarity is
find the area of a trapezoid, by converting it into a rect-
obtained by examining both Methods 2 and 10.
angle of the same area. It also can be used with any
arithmetic series, such as if the members of the set dif-
The next three methods represent the numbers graphi-
fered by 3 instead of 1, or if the set had an even number of
cally as shown below.
members.
A visual approach is much more effective than an oral,
Method 11: Duplicate the figure, rotate it 180°, and
written, or numerical approach and should be used as of-
put the two figures together to form a rectangle as indi-
ten as possible. Each shaded bar below represents the
cated on the next page.
smallest of the five consecutive numbers and each white
circle represents the value 1. The five rows (A through E)
represent the five consecutive numbers in order.

Reprinted by permission from The New York State Mathematics Teachers’ Journal, Volume 53, Number 1 (March 2003).
31

students actively are trying to solve problems rather than

A passively listening to a lecture or passively reading mate-
B
C rial, their minds are fully involved. They feel that they
D are in charge of their own learning, an attribute we should
E never underestimate. Thus forgetting and reteaching are
minimized. My experience has been that student learning
in the middle and final thirds of the course is extremely
The area of this rectangle is 95 × 2 = 190. The height is quick, easy, and thorough. Over the course of a full year I
5, so the base is 38. Once we realize that row C repre- found that using problem solving to drive the course was
sents 19 on each side of the jagged line, finding the other much faster and more effective than with more traditional
partial rows is simple. This method may be contrived, but methods. Amazingly enough, using problem-solving is
it helps us to realize the seemingly endless possibilities perhaps the most efficient way to teach.
for finding ways to do this problem. It also allows for
unexpected connections between topics. Good problems are rich, appropriate, and helpful in
developing thinking skills. They can be found on all grade
Moreover, as with Method 10, this approach can be levels in the math contest literature. Collections of these
used to find the area of a trapezoid, by converting it into a problems, such as those available from the Math Olympi-
parallelogram of twice the area. ads for Elementary and Middle Schools, are an excellent
addition to every math teacher’s professional library.

American education has been American education has been described by many
described by many people as “a people as “a mile wide and an inch deep”. Its shallowness
mile wide and an inch deep”. does not help young students prepare properly for deci-
sion-making in a future world we cannot yet envision, since
a good decision is based primarily on understanding many
I find it interesting to note the variety of topics that facets of a situation. Asking students to examine problem
come into play when solving a good single problem. As after problem from multiple perspectives can begin to cor-
posed, this question was a traditional algebra exercise, as rect this shortcoming.
ordinary as possible. Yet our various approaches journeyed
through a lot of arithmetic, as well as averages, pictographs, Who knows? Perhaps American education can even
transformation geometry, trapezoids, rectangles, and par- become two inches deep!
allelograms — not to mention several different strategies.
REFERENCES
Utilizing problem-solving as the main tool for teach- 1. Lenchner, George, Creative Problem Solving in School Mathemat-
ics, MOEMS, Bellmore NY 1983, 2005
ing mathematics takes more time in the beginning of the
year as students learn to think their way through the prob- 2. Lenchner, George, Math Olympiad Contest Problems for Elemen-
lems. But the Guessing-and-Checking that students often tary and Middle Schools, MOEMS, Bellmore NY 1997
do in order to understand the situation provides practice 3. Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools, contest
with basic skills. Also, student discussions that follow ev- problems given between 1995 and 2002, Math Olympiads, Bellmore, NY
ery problem review many topics. Furthermore, because

Reprinted by permission from The New York State Mathematics Teachers’ Journal, Volume 53, Number 1 (March 2003).