These examples are designed to help you plan and write your math word problems.
Subtraction:
1. Choose the name of one musher.
2. Choose the name of two checkpoints.
3. Find the mile marker of each of the two checkpoints.
4. Pick one piece of extra information.
5. Write a word problem where you are asking the distance between the two checkpoints.
Make sure you somehow add your piece of extra information.
Addition:
1. Choose the name of 3 mushers.
2. List the number of dogs that each musher used.
3. Write a word problem where you are asking the total amount of dogs used by
those three mushers.
Multiplication:
1. Choose the name of two mushers.
2. Find out how many dogs each musher used in the race. Choose mushers that
use two different numbers of dogs.
3. List the average amount of food needed for each dog (5 pounds) per day.
4. Write a word problem that asks how much food each musher will need per day.
5. Also ask which musher will use more food per day.
Division:
1. Choose the name of two checkpoints.
2. Find the distance between those checkpoints.
3. Pick a rate of travel that is realistic (3 mph, 4 mph, 5 mph)
4. Write a word problem that asks how long it would take to get from one checkpoint
to the other. (Make sure that your rate can be divided into the distance evenly
with no remainder.)
Addition and subtraction
1. How many mushers entered this year's Iditarod?
2. How many mushers dropped out before the race actually started?
3. How many mushers either dropped out or were disqualified during the race?
4. Write a word problem based on this information that will ask how many mushers
completely finished the Iditarod.
Multiplication and division
(average):
1. Select five mushers.
2. Find out the amount of dogs each musher stared the race with.
3. Write a word problem asking the total amount of dogs these five mushers started
the race with and the average amount of dogs per musher.
Addition and subtraction:
1. Select the top 3 finishers in the race and the prize money each won.
2. Find the total amount they won.
3. Find the names of finishers 28, 29, and 30.
4. Find the total amount they won.
5. Write a word problem asking the difference in prize money between the first
three finishers and finishers 28-30.
Addition and Subtraction
1. Go to Dogbooties.com.
2. Use the catalog of dog supply prices.
3. Give an amount of money to spend.
4. Write a problem asking for a list of supplies that can be bought with that
amount of money. Be sure that there is a list of supplies that can be bought
with that amount of money.
Graphing
1. Design a question for a graph that deals with the temperature each day.
2. Design a question for a graph that deals with the mileage throughout the
race.
Addition and Subtraction
1. Choose a musher who did not finish the race.
2. Write a problem asking for how far he/she traveled and also how far he/she
was from the finish line.
Subtraction
1. Find out which musher came in first and which musher came in last.
2. Write a problem that asks for the difference in their finishing time.
Supplemental Problems
Elapsed
Time
1. Choose the name of one musher who has finished the race.
2. Find his start time and his completion time.
3. Write a word problem that lists the start time, gives his completion time
and asks when did the musher finish the race?
Average
1. Find the names of the mushers who finished in the top five.
2. List the number of dogs they used.
3. Write a word problem asking the average amount of dogs used by the top five
finishers.
Average
1. Find the names of the mushers who finished in the top three.
2. List each of their completion times.
3. Write a word problem asking the average completion time.
Average
1. Choose the name of one musher.
2. Pick two checkpoints and find the distance between the two.
3. Find the completion time for that musher between those two checkpoints.
4. Write a word problem asking the rate of travel in miles per hour.
Time and average:
1. Select three mushers who completed the race.
2. List the times it took each of them to finish.
3. Convert the times into hours. (Round off to the nearest hour)
4. Write a word problem asking the average time for the three mushers selected.
Addition and ratio:
1. Find the number of mushers in this year's race who live in Alaska.
2. Find the number who live somewhere else in the United States.
3. Find the total of mushers who do not live in the U.S.
4. Write a word problem dealing with the following ratios: Alaskans to other
Americans and Americans to other countries.
Percent:
1. Find the number of mushers who are from Alaska.
2. Find the number of mushers from other places in the United States.
3. Write a word problem asking the percent of American mushers who are from
Alaska.
Average
1. Choose five mushers who won prize money.
2. Write a math problem asking for the average prize money won.