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Singapore Maths Curriculum: 6th Grade Lesson 6
Whole Numbers

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If you are new here, please visit our Main Math Page to learn how to use our free math website. If you are here for your 6th Grade Math Lesson 6, you will find it below.

Math Lesson 6: A Flowery Problem

Billy Bear and Molly Bear woke up from their winter hibernation and looked out of their den. There were lots of spring flowers in full bloom. They happily picked the flowers and brought them home. When they counted the flowers, they found that Billy had picked 365 more flowers than Molly for Molly was blind in one eye. Billy then gave Molly 71 of his flowers for he was a soft-hearted bear. How many more flowers than Molly did Billy have after that?

Let's Look at a Simple Example First

Many students are stumped by problems like these. So if you have never solved this kind of problem before, I will explain it to you in simple terms.

Let's forget the Flowery Problem for a moment and look at an easy-to-understand example first - with chicken and eggs this time.

There are 2 chickens: Hillary, who laid 10 eggs, and Heather, who laid only 1 egg. Hillary has: 10 - 1 = 9 more eggs than Heather.

If Hillary were to give Heather 1 egg, how many eggs would each chicken have? And how many more eggs than Heather would Hillary have?

What if Hillary were to give Heather 2 eggs?

If Hillary were to give Heather 3 eggs?

If Hillary were to give Heather 4 eggs?

Before any eggs changed hands (or wings, actually), the difference between the chickens was: 10 - 1 = 9

So if Hillary gave Heather 1 egg, their difference would be:
9 - (1 + 1) = 7

If Hillary gave Heather 2 eggs, their difference would be:
9 - (2 + 2) = 5

If Hillary gave Heather 3 eggs, their difference would be:
9 - (3 + 3) = 3

If Hillary gave Heather 4 eggs, their difference would be:
9 - (4 + 4) = 1

You see the pattern? Now let's go back to the Bear and Flower problem.

Free Online Math Help
Back to the Bear and Flowers Problem!

This is how your diagram should look like. It shows that Billy had 365 more flowers than Molly in the beginning and later gave her 71 flowers. I used dotted lines for the boxes that represent the 71 flowers that changed hands. I also shaded those boxes yellow to make it easier for you to see. And finally, I put in the blue arrow to show the direction in which the 71 yellow flowers went (from Billy to Molly).

When you look at the diagram, you will notice that when Billy gives Molly 71 flowers, 2 things happen:
1. Billy now has 71 Fewer flowers and
2. Molly has 71 More flowers.

When you think about that logically, it means that the difference between them is reduced by double the number of flowers that changed hands:

71 + 71

So how many more flowers than Molly did Billy have in the end:

365 - (71 + 71) = 223

I hope you can understand! It's not that hard, really, if you think about it.

Now it's your turn to solve 3 Interactive Math Problems.

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