Where Do Word Problems Come From?
People have been solving word problems for a very, very long time! Even before calculators or computers, people used math to count animals, share food, and build things. Let's look at how word problems have been part of life for thousands of years.
The big idea is this: word problems are just real-life stories that have a math question hiding inside. Your job is to find the question, pick the right tool (addition or subtraction), and solve it!
The Big Ideas
Before we start solving problems, let's learn the four main types of stories you will see. Each type tells you whether to add or subtract.
Adding To 🍎➕
Taking From 🍪➖
Putting Together ➕
Comparing ↔️
Picture It!
Drawing a picture can help you understand a word problem. Let's look at a big, colorful picture that shows how adding to and taking from work.
Look at the picture above! The top half shows adding to. We start with 23 blue dots and add 15 green dots. Count them all up and you get 38! The bottom half shows taking from. We start with 40 blue dots, take away 17 red ones, and 23 are left. Drawing dots or circles is a great way to see what's happening in a problem!
How to Solve Word Problems
Here are the three magic steps you can use every time you see a word problem. Follow these steps and you'll do great!
These three steps work for one-step problems (one add or subtract) and two-step problems (you need to add or subtract two times to find the final answer).
The Four Types of Word Problems
Let's look at each type more closely. This table will help you know what to do when you read different kinds of stories.
| Type | What Happens | Clue Words | What to Do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adding To | You start with some, then get more | more, joined, came, added, gave | Add ➕ |
| Taking From | You start with some, then some leave | left, ate, lost, gave away, flew away | Subtract ➖ |
| Putting Together | Two groups come together | in all, altogether, total, both | Add ➕ |
| Comparing | You find the difference between two amounts | more than, fewer than, how many more, difference | Subtract ➖ |
Which Operation Should I Use?
Use this flowchart every time! Read the story, decide if things are coming together or going apart, then pick the right operation. If the problem has two parts, do it again for the second part!
Worked Example — A Two-Step Problem
Let's solve a two-step word problem together, step by step. Read carefully!
Tips, Tricks, and Things to Watch Out For
Here are some helpful hints and some tricky things to be careful about.
| ✅ Helpful Tips | ⚠️ Watch Out! |
|---|---|
| Underline the numbers in the story. | Don't just grab numbers and add them! Read the whole story first. |
| Circle the clue words (more, left, in all). | Sometimes "more" means subtract! "How many more does Sam have?" means compare, so you subtract. |
| Draw a picture if you get stuck. | Don't forget: in two-step problems, use your first answer as the starting number for step two. |
| Check: is your answer bigger or smaller than what you started with? | Make sure your answer is not bigger than 100. We are working within 100! |
What Comes Next?
You're building something really important right now! The skills you learn solving word problems with numbers up to 100 will help you do even bigger things soon.
| What You Do Now | What You'll Do Next |
|---|---|
| Add and subtract within 100 | Add and subtract within 1,000 and beyond! |
| One-step and two-step problems | Three-step and multi-step problems |
| Addition and subtraction only | Multiplication and division word problems too! |
| Whole numbers only | Problems with money, time, and measurements |
Every time you solve a word problem, your brain gets a little stronger. 💪 The more you practice now, the easier bigger problems will be later. You're doing amazing work!
Practice Problems
Try these five problems. Read each story carefully, decide if you should add or subtract, then solve. Click "Show Answer" to check your work!
Let's Review!
You've learned how to solve word problems using addition and subtraction with numbers up to 100. There are four main types of problems: adding to (you start with some and get more), taking from (you start with some and lose some), putting together (you combine two groups), and comparing (you find the difference between two amounts). For adding to and putting together, you add. For taking from and comparing, you subtract.
Remember the three magic steps: read and picture the story, write a number sentence, and solve and check your answer. For two-step problems, just do the steps twice! Look for clue words like "more," "left," "altogether," and "how many fewer" to help you choose the right operation. You are ready to take on any word problem! 🎉