All About Primary School Math Enrichment

[Working_Kiasu_Mum]

jedamum:

jedamum:

P1 Math Q:

Tom has 12 balls. He divides them equally among his 3 friends. How many balls will each friend get?

Anybody?
i wanna see if your answer is 4 or 3....

You asked the right person.My ans is confirmed and absolutely right. Ans is 4. Cos of the word 'among'. This is a tricky Q most teachers like to use, cos of lang.

'among' is not including the subject infront. but if they use 'with' you will need to include the subject infront.

E.g. id the sentence is 'He divides them equally with his 3 friends.' you will need to take 12 divide by 4 (cos includes Tom).

Get it?

[metz]

same answer and explanation as working_Kiasu_Mum.


Another word to look out is "share". If the question uses "share equally with", then the answer is 3.

[metz]

Working_Kiasu_Mum:

'among' is not including the subject infront.

Upon reflection, this may not be true all the time. It depends on how the question is being fashioned. For instance, if the question is phrased as \"He divided the beads among themselves equally\", then the answer would be 3. So, it largely depends on the sentence and not just one word alone.

[jedamum]

thanks Working_Kiasu_Mum and chamonix for the clarifications.


am i correct to say that if the question is…
Tom has 12 sweets. He has 3 younger brothers. He divides them equally among themselves. How many sweets will each boy get?

it is 12 divide by 4?

[Working_Kiasu_Mum]

jedamum:

thanks Working_Kiasu_Mum and chamonix for the clarifications.


am i correct to say that if the question is...
Tom has 12 sweets. He has 3 younger brothers. He divides them equally among themselves. How many sweets will each boy get?

it is 12 divide by 4?

teachers wont use lang. 'among themselves' cos it will not be logically right. If they use that phrase, you will need to approach the school for clarification.

they should only use 'among them' (which is only bros w/o Tom) or 'share equally with them' (Tom and bros).

What is exactly on your Q stated in the paper?

[jedamum]

Working_Kiasu_Mum:

teachers wont use lang. 'among themselves' cos it will not be logically right. If they use that phrase, you will need to approach the school for clarification.

they should only use 'among them' (which is only bros w/o Tom) or 'share equally with them' (Tom and bros).

What is exactly on your Q stated in the paper?

the exact Q is the one stated in my original question.
i am just trying to preempt how the teachers may set similar questions :oops: . A check with dictionary.com on the definition of 'among', they did use the phrase 'among themselves', so i'm a bit confused. i agree it's more of a test of english than math.

[hquek]

just wondering if the kid had the presence of mind to put in writing the following:


Assuming that Tom is not included, answer is 4. If Tom is included, then answer is 3.

whether teacher will deduct marks for being a smart aleck?

I think this kind of question is very misleading and can really be left up to the teacher's interpretation.

:shock:

[metz]

hquek:

just wondering if the kid had the presence of mind to put in writing the following:


Assuming that Tom is not included, answer is 4. If Tom is included, then answer is 3.

whether teacher will deduct marks for being a smart aleck?

I think this kind of question is very misleading and can really be left up to the teacher's interpretation.

:shock:

I doubt it's acceptable. It only serves to show the kid doesn't understand the question. JMO.

[ChiefKiasu]

chamonix:

hquek:

just wondering if the kid had the presence of mind to put in writing the following:


Assuming that Tom is not included, answer is 4. If Tom is included, then answer is 3.

whether teacher will deduct marks for being a smart aleck?

I think this kind of question is very misleading and can really be left up to the teacher's interpretation.

:shock:

I doubt it's acceptable. It only serves to show the kid doesn't understand the question. JMO.

Hmm... in cases where there is real ambiguity, the child should be rewarded as it indicates DEEPER understanding of the question - the fact that he knows there are multiple interpretation of the question is highly indicative of deep thinking.

However, in this case, there is no ambiguity.

1. There is nothing wrong with the phrase \"among themselves\". When that is stated, it includes the distributor. There is no ambiguity. So \"Tom has 12 sweets and 3 brothers and divided the sweets among themselves\" indicates 4 people total.

2. On the other hand, \"Tom has 12 sweets and 3 brothers and divided the sweets among them\" is ambiguous, but is more commonly taken to mean to EXCLUDE the distributor, ie. Tom divided the sweets among his 3 brothers, without him being included. In such a situation, I would agree with hquek's suggestion that the child should put up 2 answers.

[KSP]

Any parents’ kids with The Learning Lab? Just want to know how much they charge for lower primary english and maths. Thanks.