problem solving using polya's method

• Mathematics
• Reading and Writing
• Intervention
• Professional Learning
• Virtual Events
• What is Phonics?
• Teaching Grammar
• Vocabulary Games
• What is Virtual Learning?
• About Sadlier
• Find a Sales Representative
• International Distributors
• International Programs
• Online Catalogs
• Sadlier School Site Map
• Pricing & Ordering Information
• Sadlier’s W-9
• Sadlier’s Sole Source Letter
• Sadlier’s Credit Application
• Privacy Policy
• Return Policy
• Terms & Conditions

Sadlier's Math Blog

• Counting and Cardinality
• Operations and Algebraic Thinking
• Number and Operations in Base 10
• Measurement and Data
• Math Practices
• Number and Operations Fractions
• Statistics and Probability
• The Number System
• Ratios and Proportional Relationships
• Expressions and Equations
• MP1—Problem Solving
• MP2—Abstract <−>Quantitative
• MP3—Reasoning
• MP4—Modeling
• MP5—Using Tools
• MP6—Precision
• MP7—Structure
• MP8—Repeated Reasoning
• Kindergarten Math Activities
• First Grade Math Activities
• Second Grade Math Activities
• Third Grade Math Activities
• Fourth Grade Math Activities
• Fifth Grade Math Activities
• Sixth Grade Math Activities
• Seventh Grade Math Activities
• Eighth Grade Math Activities
• Professional Development
• Test-Taking Strategies
• Classroom Posters
• Writing In Mathematics

April 19, 2023 3-5-operations-and-algebraic-thinking , k-2-operations-and-algebraic-thinking , 6-8-expressions-and-equations

Polya’s problem-solving process: finding unknowns elementary & middle school, by: jeff todd.

In this article, we'll explore how a focus on finding “unknowns” in math will lead to active problem-solving strategies for Kindergarten to Grade 8 classrooms. Through the lens of George Polya and his four-step problem-solving heuristic, I will discuss how you can apply the concept of finding unknowns to your classroom. Plus, download my Finding Unknowns in Elementary and Middle School Math Classes Tip Sheet .

It is unfortunate that in the United States mathematics has a reputation for being dry and uninteresting. I hear this more from adults than I do from children—in fact, I find that children are naturally curious about how math works and how it relates to the world around them. It is from adults that they get the idea that math is dry, boring, and unrelated to their lives. Despite what children may or may not hear about math, I focus on making instruction exciting and showing my students that math applicable to their lives.

Problem solving is a fundamental means of developing students' mathematical knowledge and it also shows them that math concepts apply to real-world concepts.

Problem solving is one way I show my students that math relates to their lives! Problem solving is a fundamental means of developing students' mathematical knowledge and it also shows them that math concepts apply to real-world concepts.

Who Is George Polya?

George Polya was a European-born scholar and mathematician who moved to the U.S in 1940, to work at Stanford University. When considering the his classroom experience of teaching mathematics, he noticed that students were not presented with a view of mathematics that excited and energized them. I know that I have felt this way many times in my teaching career and have often asked: How can I make this more engaging and yet still maintain rigor?

Polya suggested that math should be presented in the light of being able to solve problems. His 1944 book,  How to Solve It  contains his famous four-step problem solving heuristic. Polya suggests that by presenting mathematical thinking as a way to find “unknowns,” it becomes more engaging for students.

He even goes as far as to say that his general four-step problem-solving heuristic can be applied to any field of human endeavor—to any opportunity where a problem exists.

Polya suggested that math should be presented in the light of being able to solve problems...that by presenting mathematical thinking as a way to find “unknowns,” it becomes more engaging for students.

Polya specifically wrote about problem-solving at the high school mathematics level. For those of us teaching students in the elementary and middle school levels, finding ways to apply Polya’s problem-solving process as he intended forces us to rethink the way we teach.

Particularly in the lower grade levels, finding “unknowns” can be relegated to prealgebra and algebra courses in the later grades. Nonetheless, today’s standards call for algebra and algebraic thinking at early grade levels. The  download  for today’s post presents one way you can find unknowns at each grade level.

Presenting Mathematics  As A Way To Find "Unknowns" In Real-Life Situations

I would like to share a conversation I had recently with my friend Stu. I have been spending my summers volunteering for a charitable organization in Central America that provides medical services for the poor, runs ESL classes, and operates a Pre-K to Grade 6 school. We were talking about the kind of professional development that I might provide the teachers, and he was intrigued by the thought that we could connect mathematical topics to real life. We specifically talked about the fact that he remembers little or nothing about how to find the area of a figure and never learned in school why it might be important to know about area. Math was presented to him as a set of rules and procedures rather than as a way to find unknowns in real-life situations.

That’s what I am talking about here, and it’s what I believe Polya was talking about. How can we create classrooms where students are able to use their mathematical knowledge to solve problems, whether real-life or purely mathematical?

As Polya noted, there are two ways that mathematics can be presented, either as deductive system of rules and procedures or as an inductive method of making mathematics. Both ways of thinking about mathematics have endured through the centuries, but at least in American education, there has been an emphasis on a procedural approach to math. Polya noticed this in the 1940s, and I think that although we have made progress, there is still an over-emphasis on skill and procedure at the expense of problem-solving and application.

I recently reread Polya’s book. I can’t say that it is an “easy” read, but I would say that it was valuable for me to revisit his own words in order to be sure I understood what he was advocating. As a result, I made the following outline of his problem-solving process and the questions he suggests we use with students.

Polya's Problem-Solving Process

1. understand the problem, and desiring the solution .

• Restate the problem
• Identify the principal parts of the problem
• Essential questions
• What is unknown?
• What data are available?
• What is the condition?

2. Devising a Problem-Solving Plan 

• Look at the unknown and try to think of a familiar problem having the same or similar unknown
• Here is a problem related to yours and solved before. Can you use it?
• Can you restate the problem?
• Did you use all the data?
• Did you use the whole condition?

3. Carrying Out the Problem-Solving Plan 

• Can you see that each step is correct?
• Can you prove that each step is correct?

4. Looking Back

• Can you check the result?
• Can you check the argument?
• Can you derive the result differently?
• Can you see the result in a glance?
• Can you use the result, or the method, for some other problem?

Polya's Suggestions For Helping Students Solve Problems

I also found four suggestions from Polya about what teachers can do to help students solve problems:

Suggestion One In order for students to understand the problem, the teacher must focus on fostering in students the desire to find a solution. Absent this motivation, it will always be a fight to get students to solve problems when they are not sure what to do.

Suggestion Two A second key feature of this first phase of problem-solving is giving students strategies forgetting acquainted with problems.

Suggestion Three Another suggestion is that teachers should help students learn strategies to be able to work toward a better understanding of any problem through experimentation.

Suggestion Four Finally, when students are not sure how to solve a problem, they need strategies to “hunt for the helpful idea.”

Whether you are thinking of problem-solving in a traditional sense (solving computational problems and geometric proofs, as illustrated in Polya’s book) or you are thinking of the kind of problem-solving students can do through STEAM activities, I can’t help but hear echoes of Polya in Standard for Math Practice 1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

Mathematically proficient students start by explaining to themselves the meaning of a problem and looking for entry points to its solution. They analyze givens, constraints, relationships, and goals. They make conjectures about the form and meaning of the solution and plan a solution pathway rather than simply jumping into a solution attempt. They consider analogous problems, and try special cases and simpler forms of the original problem in order to gain insight into its solution. They monitor and evaluate their progress and change course if necessary.

In Conclusion

We all know we should be fostering students’ problem-solving ability in our math classes. Polya’s focus on “finding unknowns” in math has wide applicability to problems whether they are purely mathematical or more general.

Grab my  download  and start  applying Polya’s Four-Step Problem-Solving Process in the lower grades!

• My Dashboard

Module: Helping Students Do Math

• Introductory Scenario
• Content: Does Anyone Know What Math Is?
• Content: The Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales
• Content: Past Experience with Math
• Content: Learning About Math
• Content: What is it like to teach math?
• Content: Using a Frayer Model
• Content: Helping a Child Learn from a Textbook
• Content: Using Online Math Resources
• Content: Helping a Student Learn to use a Calculator
• Links for More Information
• Content: Better Questions
• Content: Practice Asking Good Questions
• Content: Polya’s Problem-Solving Method
• Content: Applying Poly’s Method to a Life Decision
• Content: Learning Progression Activities
• Content: Connecting Concepts and Procedures
• Content: Resources
• Activity: The Old Guy’s No-Math Test
• Open All · Close All

Contact:  [email protected]

The Ohio Partnership for Excellence in Paraprofessional Preparation is primarily supported through a grant with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Office for Exceptional Children. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the Ohio Department of Education or Offices within it, and you should not assume endorsement by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons
• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

2.1: George Polya's Four Step Problem Solving Process

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 132871

Step 1: Understand the Problem

• Do you understand all the words?
• Can you restate the problem in your own words?
• Do you know what is given?
• Do you know what the goal is?
• Is there enough information?
• Is there extraneous information?
• Is this problem similar to another problem you have solved?

Step 2: Devise a Plan: Below are some strategies one might use to solve a problem. Can one (or more) of the following strategies be used? (A strategy is defined as an artful means to an end.)