Many times, making a guess at an answer will help you understand if you are "close" to a solving the problem. Your next guess will be closer, and the next guess closer, until you find the final solution.

Example:   Mrs. Hamer’s class sorted 24 leaves into groups according to their colors. Each group                       had the same number of leaves. There were more than 4 groups and less than 8. How                       many groups were there?

                   First Guess: 5 in a group. Let's try it.

When we count these leaves, we find 25 not 24 so that can't be the right answer, but we can                  tell that we are close! Let's try 6 in a group.

When we count these leaves, we find a total of 24, with 6 in each group. We have found                   the answer by guessing and checking.

*Choose a theme below to practice your problem solving strategies.

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