1.

6 Reasoning to Solve Problems

This is a popular rhyme from the past:
On the way to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Every wife had
seven sacks. Every sack had seven cats. Every cat had seven kittens.
Kits, cats, sacks, wives, how many were oin to St. Ives!"
#oth$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ reasonin can %e used to solve
pro%lems.
o Involves solvin simpler
pro%lems, o%servin
patterns, and drawin
loical conclusions.
o Involves usin known facts
or assumptions to develop
an arument, which is then
used to draw a loical
conclusion.
&ro%lem
Suppose that you are lost in the woods for hours and come upon a
ca%in. In the ca%in, you 'nd a lantern, a candle, a woodstove with
wood in it, and a match. (hat do you liht 'rst!
&ro%lem
)r. #uress is runnin a *unior volley%all tournament with +, teams. -e
would like to put the teams into pools for round ro%in play, %ut only has
court time for a ma.imum of /0 ames. (hich desin should he use!
a1 + pools of 2,
teams each
%1 3 pools of 4
teams each
c1 4 pools of 3
teams each
5id you use deductive or inductive reasonin to solve the pro%lem
a%ove!
&ro%lem
)r. Kroeker uses a ca%inet to orani6e his tools. 7ails o in the top row,
hammers in the %ottom row, and pliers in the middle row, each in a
di8erent column. 9evels are in the left column, sandpaper is in the
riht column and the nail un is in the middle column. 5rills are *ust
%elow the sandpaper: saws are a%ove and to the riht of the
screwdrivers.
5rills
Is there more than one solution to this pro%lem!
&ro%lem
;se the information and the chart %elow to determine the record ae
for each animal.
a1 The sea anemone lives loner than <4 years.
%1 The two=leed animal lives 0+ years.
c1 The tortoise lives loner than the elephant and ostrich.
d1 The old'sh has the shortest life.
e1 The %lue whale did not live as lon as the ostrich.
f1 The tortoise lives loner than the sea anemone.
32 34 0+ <2 >, 24+
Elephan
t
#lue
(hale
?old'sh
Ostrich
Sea
@nemon
e
Tortoise
(hat stratey is e8ective for dealin with a loic pu66le such as this!