Have you ever been misdiagnosed? When I was 12, I was sick and went to the doctor. The doctor checked my throat and ears, and didn’t find any hints of illness. Then he asked my twin sister, who was sitting in the room with us, “Does she wheeze when she sleeps?”

“Yes,” Jessica eagerly replied to the doctor. Beaming with pride, she was happy to help cure me.

 

With Jessica’s professional observation, the doctor was ready to fix me.

According to the doctor, I had bronchitis and had to take these horse pill antibiotics. When the doctor left the room, Jessica turned to me and asked, “Jenny, what’s wheezing?”

Sometimes, we use the wrong information. Correctly examine the information of a word problem to uncover the correct answer.

Five steps lead to solving any word problem.

1. Identify the problem.
2. Identify what you know.
3. Make a plan.
4. Carryout the plan.
5. Verify that the answer makes sense.

This article focuses on step 2:  Identify what you know.

I Need More Information

“But there’s not enough information here,” you dejectedly whine so that you can slide away from the assignment. Insert yourself into the problem. What information would you look for if you were carpeting this house? Make the question less arcane and walk in Sam’s shoes.

Example:  Algebra Word Problem

Sam is carpeting a rectangular room in his house.  The length of the room is (x +2) feet and the width of the room is (x - 6) feet, while the area of the room is 84 square feet.Find the length and width of the room.

Identify what you know:

• Sam needs carpet for a rectangular room.
• The length of the room is x + 2.
• The width of the room is x – 6.
• The area of the room is 84 square feet.
• The formula for the area of a rectangle is A = lw.
• I need to find x to find length and width.