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Mrs Parores Laundry

Number and Algebra, Level 1
The Problem 1. Mrs Parore is hanging out her towels to dry. She puts two pegs on each towel. If she has 4 towels, how many pegs will she need? Mrs Parore sees that her peg box is running low. So she puts one peg on the corner of two towels. This way she only needs 3 pegs for 2 towels. How many pegs will she need for 4 towels now?

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What is the problem about? This problem is at the beginning of problem solving. It should help the students see how to use simple strategies such as use equipment and draw pictures. Its also a good way to get them to start counting in twos. The problem is also at the beginning of looking for patterns. By looking at different numbers of towels when two pegs are used, the students can begin to see that there is the pattern of doubling. If one peg is used between a pair of towels, the students can find another pattern. Naturally patterns are at the base of mathematics. Almost all mathematical activity is aimed at finding a pattern of some sort. Theorems, the true statements of mathematics, are ways that sophisticated patterns are expressed. For instance, Pythagoras Theorem, that says that the square of the length of the hypotenuse is the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides, is a pattern about the lengths of the sides in a rightangled triangle. Weve posed two types of problem here. One depends on using two different pegs for each towel. The other uses two pegs per towel but some pegs can be used on two different towels. You may like to use these two methods of hanging clothes in two different lessons. Relevant Achievement Objectives

Number strategies AO1: use a range of counting, grouping, and equal-sharing strategies with whole numbers and fractions.

Specific Learning Outcomes The students will be able to:

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use simple problem solving strategies; solve a simple problem involving number.

Resources

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Copymaster of the problem (English) Copymaster of the problem (Mori) Pegs, clothes and a washing line.

Teaching sequence 1. Talk about washing. Does your family hang clothes out on a line? Can you show me how she hangs out her clothes to dry? How does she use the pegs? Get some of the students to hang out some washing on a line in the classroom. Let them use two pegs per piece of clothing. How many pegs did they use? Tell them Mrs Parores first problem. Let them go back to their seats to solve the problem. Help groups that need it. For the quicker groups, encourage them to try the Extension. Let a few groups report back to the whole class.

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Extension

Mrs Parore needed to use 12 pegs to hang out her towels. (Two pegs per towel and each peg is only used to hang one towel.) How many towels did she wash? If Mrs Parore is using the peg-saving method of hanging out her washing, how many towels can she hang with 9 pegs? Solution If students are using a drawing strategy, they will draw four shapes for the towels. Then they will put two pegs per shape. Counting the peg shapes gives 8 pegs. Using equipment for the second type of problem, they might link the clothes with paper clip pegs. Once four towels have been strung together the students can count the 5 pegs that are needed.
Solution to the Extension:

The students first need to draw 12 pegs. Then they might draw a towel and joining two of the pegs. They then repeat this until they have joined all 12 pegs in pairs. Its now just a matter of counting the 6 towels they have drawn. Using equipment, the students should first count out the 9 pegs. They then join up the towels with the pegs. Finally they can count the 8 towels that they have hung up.

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