Fifteen children are playing hide and seek. One of them is the "seeker". After a while, seven children were still hiding. How many children have already been found?
Source - Math Kangaroo, Grades 3-4
Solution:
Always summarize the question
15 children are playing hide and seek.
1 is seeking
So 14 were hiding in the beginning
Now only 7 are hiding
So 14-7=7 children have been found
Pitfall to watch out for:
Most people forget the seeker when doing the problem. They think 15 people are playing, and 7 are still hiding. So 8 children are found. (Might seem silly but I've seen this happen all the time)
Now try a similar question
I'm waiting for a rollercoaster ride in a theme park. I'm the 14th person in a queue. There are equal number of people before and after me. How many people are standing in the queue?
Post the answer to the problem in the comments section below.
Let's see how many get it right
As you know I'm an Online Math Tutor. I train kids for all elementary school math competitions. This is a problem my 3rd grader would be able to solve.
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