Well, well!

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Purpose

This problem solving activity has a number (addition and subtraction) focus.

Achievement Objectives
NA1-1: Use a range of counting, grouping, and equal-sharing strategies with whole numbers and fractions.
Student Activity

Decorative image of a frog.Freddo wants to get out from the bottom of the well.
Each day, he climbs 3m up the wall of the well and then rests.
But the wall is slippery and he then slips down 1m.
The next day he does the same thing.
In fact he does this every day until he gets out of the well.

The well is 13m deep. How long does it take Freddo to climb out of the well?

Specific Learning Outcomes
  • Skip count in twos.
  • Investigate and find patterns using addition and subtraction,
  • Devise and use problem solving strategies (act it out, draw a picture).
Description of Mathematics

At its simplest this problem involves the students calculating a series of single digit additions and subtractions (3 – 1 + 3 – 1 ...). It can also be used to reinforce skip counting in twos with a starting point of 3.

Students do not need to have knowledge of metres to succeed in this task. To support students developing a realistic understanding of the distance Freddo travelled, you could measure the length of the well and ask students to act out the steps Freddo took to climb out.

Required Resource Materials
Activity

The Problem

Freddo wants to get out from the bottom of the well. Each day, he climbs 3m up the wall of the well and then rests. But the wall is slippery and he then slips down 1m. The next day he does the same thing. In fact he does this every day until he gets out of the well.

The well is 13m deep. How long does it take Freddo to climb out of the well?

Teaching Sequence

  1. Use Freddo the frog to share the problem with the class.
  2. Ask the students to suggest ways that they might solve the problem.  You may get them to act it out with Freddo on the board, or use a box to model the well.
  3. Discuss with students how they are going to keep track of what they are doing as they solve the problem.
  4. As they work on the problem, circulate and encourage the students to identify the leaps and slips that Freddo makes. Check to see if they are looking for patterns in the numbers that they are recording.
  5. Have them share and demonstrate their answers. Discuss the range of strategies that students use.
    For those who give 7 as the answer get them to think about where Freddo was before he went to sleep the night before.

Extension

Freddo has a brother in a deeper well. Each day he climbs 5m and then slips back 2m each night. How many days does it take him to reach the top of a 20m well?

Solution

Think about how high Freddo gets each day and not where he ends up when he slips down. Each day he reaches the 3m mark, the 5m mark, 7m, 9m, 11m, 13m. Ultimately, Freddo advances 2m each day, after he has slipped down 1m (0+3-1=2). On the sixth day, Freddo climbs 3m to reach the height of the 13m well, and then climbs out. This means he doesn't slip down the 1m. Freddo climbs out after 6 days! (A picture will show you all this quite quickly.)

Solution to the Extension

Here the sequence of numbers is 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20.  So it takes 6 days for Freddo's brother to climb out of the 20m well.

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Level One