Graphing and Probability Word Problems

April 1, 2011
Grades 5-8 Word problems can be the bane of a middle-schoolers existence, as its easy to get confused by those mini-paragraphs packed with sometimes-needless information. Add bar graphs, pie charts, or other data sets, and some might feel like giving up. Illustrated with stock photos and colorful sidebars, this entry in the Math Busters Word Problems series explains how data, graphs, and probability are used in word problems and offers a four-step program for helping students arrive at the correct answer: understand the problem, make a plan, follow the plan, and review. Chapters cover increasingly difficult material, beginning with pictographs and ending with sampling and predictions, yet each two-page section covers one example of a problem style thoroughly before moving on. For instance, mean, median, and mode are separated into interrelated chapters, helping to reinforce the concepts. This book will combine well with a math textbook, and kids in need of specific review can easily move to the appropriate lesson. Back matter includes suggested further reading and an index.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)