3–14
Name
Date
Work Backward
1.
Kareem bought some bottles of water. He drank 3 of the bottles. Then he
bought 5 more bottles and drank 2 of those. He has 4 bottles left. How many
bottles did he have at the start?
2.
Katy weighed a bag of grapes. She added 2 pounds of grapes to the bag. After
she took out 3 pounds of grapes the bag weighed 4 pounds. How much did
the bag of grapes weigh at the start?
3.
Amy spent $6 for a sailboat kit and $4 for markers at a craft store. Her dad
gave her $5. Then Amy had $7. How much money did Amy have when she
arrived at the craft store?
4.
At 7 P.M. there are 11 boats in the harbor, 5 more than there were at 5 P.M.
At 3 P.M. there were half as many boats as there were at 5 P.M. How many boats
were there at 3 P.M.?
5.
Make Up Your Own Write your own word problem that can be solved by
working backward and then solve it.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Work backward to solve each problem. Show your work.
3–14
Name
Date
Work Backward
Work backward to solve each problem. Show your work.
1.
Kareem bought some bottles of water. He drank 3 of the bottles. Then he
bought 5 more bottles and drank 2 of those. He has 4 bottles left. How many
bottles did he have at the start?
4 bottles; 4 ⴙ 3 ⴚ 5 ⴙ 2 ⴝ 4
2.
Katy weighed a bag of grapes. She added 2 pounds of grapes to the bag. After
she took out 3 pounds of grapes the bag weighed 4 pounds. How much did
the bag of grapes weigh at the start?
5 pounds; 4 ⴚ 2 ⴙ 3 ⴝ 5
3.
Amy spent $6 for a sailboat kit and $4 for markers at a craft store. Her dad
gave her $5. Then Amy had $7. How much money did Amy have when she
arrived at the craft store?
$12; 7 ⴙ 6 ⴙ 4 ⴚ 5 ⴝ 12
At 7 P.M. there are 11 boats in the harbor, 5 more than there were at 5 P.M.
At 3 P.M. there were half as many boats as there were at 5 P.M. How many boats
were there at 3 P.M.?
3 boats; 11 ⴚ 5 ⴝ 6, 6 ⴜ 2 ⴝ 3
5.
Make Up Your Own Write your own word problem that can be solved by
working backward and then solve it.
Word problems will vary. Check students’ work.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
4.