Grade 3 students, typically 8 years old, are just stepping into the exciting world of Mathematics and its complexities. Moreover, they are introduced to the world of challenging word problems which require a degree of understanding of English as well as basic mathematic concepts. The following word problems should be very much accessible to Grade 3 students with a little bit of guidance from teachers and parents.
- In a village festival, many food items were sold. Stall A sold 3675 cookies while stall B sold 1240 cookies fewer than stall A. How many cookies did both stall sell altogether?
- Tina saved $3500.00 in April. Her monthly salary was two times the amount she saved in April. In May, she spent $2913.00 and saved the rest. How much did she save in May?
- Mariam had 5819 beads. She used 1895 beads for an art project. She packed the rest of the beads equally into 6 bags. How many beads were contained in each bag?
- John bought two bags of cashew nuts. One bag contained 4890 g of cashew nuts and the other bag contained 2790 g of cashew nuts. He repacked the cashew nuts equally into 8 smaller packets. Calculate the mass of the cashew nuts in each packet?
- There were 25 rows of chairs in a hall. Each row had 42 chairs. During a concert, 964 chairs were filled. How many chairs were empty?
- Factory A produces 2846 tins a day. Factory B produces 3159 tins a day. How many tins do the two factories produce in 5 days?
- An aircraft has 168 seats.
a) 1/7 of the seats are empty. How many seats are occupied?
b) 75% of the seats are in the economy class. Calculate the number of seats in the economy class. - An aeroplane left Kuala Lumpur at 18 40 hours taking 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach Singapore. What time did the plane reach Singapore?
- The population of a certain town in Asia is 6500. Given that 75% of them are employed, calculate the number of people who are unemployed.
Answer key
- 1. Cookies sold by stall A = 3675
Cookies sold by stall B = 3675 – 1240 = 2435
Cookies sold by both the stalls together = 3675+2435=6110 - Money saved by Tina in April = $3500
Tina’s monthly salary=$3500 × 2 = $7000
Money spent by Tina in May = $2913
Money saved by Tina in May = $7000 - $2913 = $4087 - The number of beads that Mariam had = 5819
The number of beads she used for the art project = 1895
The rest of the beads = 5819 – 1895 = 3924
The number of beads in each bag = 3924 ÷ 6 = 654. - Total mass of cashew nuts in both the bags together = 4890 g + 2790 g = 7680 g
The mass of cashew nuts in each smaller packet = 7680 ÷ 8 = 960 g - The number of rows of chairs in the hall = 25
The number of chairs placed in each row = 42
The total number of chairs = 25 × 42 = 1050
The number of chairs that were filled = 964
The number of chairs that were empty = 1050 – 964 = 86. - Number of tins produced by factory A = 2846
Number of tins produced by factory B = 3159
The total number of tins produced by the two factories together in one day = 2846 +3159 = 6005
The total number of tins produced by the two factories in 5 days = 6005 × 5 =30025 - a) Fraction of seats that is not occupied = 1/7
Fraction of seats that is occupied = 6/7
Number of seats that are occupied = 6/7 ×168 = 1008/7 = 144 seats.
b) Percentage of seats in the economy class = 75% (3/4)
Number of seats in the economy class = ¾ × 168 = 126. - The time the aeroplane left Kuala Lumpur = 18:40
Time taken to reach Singapore = 2 hours 30 minutes
The time the aeroplane reached Singapore = 18 40 + 2 hours 30 minutes = 21: 10. - The population of the town = 6500
The percentage of people who are employed = 75% (3/4)
The number of people who are unemployed = 6500 × ¼ = 1625.