Hello everyone! Today, we’re going to have some fun with spooky Halloween word problems. These problems might seem a little scary because they have the words “less” and “fewer,” but don’t worry! By the end of this lesson, these words will be much less spooky.
When we read a word problem, it’s important to look for key words or important information. We can underline these important parts to make solving the problem easier.
Here’s our first spooky problem: A witch uses 42 dragon scales to make a magical potion. She uses 19 fewer crow feathers than dragon scales. How many crow feathers does she use?
We know she uses 42 dragon scales. The word “fewer” tells us we need to subtract. So, we take 42 dragon scales and subtract 19 to find out how many crow feathers she uses.
Let’s subtract using regrouping. In the ones place, 2 is smaller than 9, so we need to regroup. We take a 10 from the 4 (which is 40) and turn it into a 3 (which is 30). Now, we add the 10 to the 2, making it 12.
Now we can subtract: 12 minus 9 is 3. In the tens place, 3 minus 1 is 2. So, the witch uses 23 crow feathers. Remember, “fewer than” usually means subtraction!
Let’s try another problem: On the first floor of a haunted house, a ghost hunter found 65 ghosts. He found 28 fewer ghosts on the second floor. How many ghosts did he find on the second floor?
We know he found 65 ghosts on the first floor. The word “fewer” tells us to subtract again. So, we subtract 28 from 65 to find out how many ghosts were on the second floor.
In the ones place, 5 is smaller than 8, so we need to regroup. We take a 10 from the 6 (which is 60) and turn it into a 5 (which is 50). We add the 10 to the 5, making it 15.
Now we subtract: 15 minus 8 is 7. In the tens place, 5 minus 2 is 3. So, there are 37 ghosts on the second floor.
When solving word problems, always look for important information and underline it. Words like “fewer” or “less than” usually mean you need to subtract. Keep practicing, and these problems will become less spooky!
Great work, everyone! Keep practicing, and I’ll see you next time for more fun learning!
Ghost Hunt at Home: Create a simple scavenger hunt at home using everyday objects. Ask your child to find a certain number of objects, like 10 spoons. Then, give them a word problem: “You found 10 spoons, but you need 3 fewer spoons for your ghost hunt. How many spoons do you need now?” Encourage them to use subtraction to solve the problem and find the correct number of spoons.
Witch’s Potion Recipe: Have your child create their own “potion” using safe kitchen ingredients like water, food coloring, and sugar. Give them a word problem: “You need 15 drops of blue food coloring, but you want 5 fewer drops of red food coloring. How many drops of red food coloring do you need?” Let them measure and mix the ingredients, practicing subtraction as they adjust their recipe.
Draw and Solve: Ask your child to draw a picture of a haunted house with ghosts on different floors. Then, give them a word problem: “There are 20 ghosts on the first floor and 12 fewer ghosts on the second floor. How many ghosts are on the second floor?” Encourage them to draw the ghosts and use subtraction to find the answer. This visual approach helps them understand the concept of “fewer” in a fun and engaging way.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Hello everyone! Let’s open the worksheet. Don’t forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel. You can find the link to this app in the comments below. Today, we’re going to be looking at some spooky Halloween word problems. What’s really spooky about these word problems is that they contain the words “less” and “fewer.” But hopefully, after watching this video lesson, these two words will be a little less scary.
Let’s read the directions and get started right away. Solve the word problems below and check the correct total. When I read a word problem, I’m always looking out for key words or important information, so let’s underline everything we think might be important. That way, it’s easy to go back into the word problem when we’re solving it.
Here’s our first problem: A witch uses 42 dragon scales to make a magical potion. She uses 19 fewer crow feathers than dragon scales in her magic potion. How many crow feathers does she use?
So, I know she uses 42 dragon scales. We’re just going to call them scales. She also uses 19 fewer feathers. The question wants to know how many feathers she uses. It has that tricky word “fewer” in it. How can we figure out how many crow feathers she really has?
When you see the word “fewer,” that usually signals subtraction. So we take her 42 dragon scales and subtract 19 because she said there are 19 fewer crow feathers. To find out how many crow feathers there are, we need to take away 19, and then that’ll tell us how many crow feathers she has.
Let’s subtract using regrouping to figure out how many crow feathers she has. Let’s look closely at the ones place. In the ones place, I see that the 2 is smaller than the 9, so we’re going to have to regroup. Let’s take a 10 from the 4, which represents the number 40, and turn it into a 3, which represents the number 30.
Now we add the 10 that we took to the 2, and that becomes 12. Now we can just subtract the ones place: 12 minus 9 is 3. If we subtract the tens place, 3 minus 1 is 2.
We know she has 23 crow feathers because 42 minus 19 is 23, meaning 19 fewer than 42 is 23, giving us 23 crow feathers in her magical potion.
So one less scary tip is that when you see the words “fewer than,” you can usually bet that it is a subtraction problem.
Let’s take a look at our second word problem, again underlining the important facts and details. On the first floor of a haunted house, the ghost hunter found 65 ghosts. He found 28 fewer ghosts on the second floor. How many ghosts did he find on the second floor?
Okay, so I know he found 65 ghosts on the first floor. He also found 28 fewer ghosts on the second floor. Again, when I see that word “fewer,” my mind immediately thinks of subtraction.
So for this problem, 28 fewer ghosts means we need to subtract 65 minus 28 to find out how many ghosts there were on the second floor.
Let’s subtract with regrouping. Let’s look closely at the ones place again. In the ones place, we have a 5 and an 8. Since 5 is smaller than 8, we are going to have to regroup.
Let’s take a 10 from the 6, which represents 60, and turn it into a 5, which will now represent 50. We’ll take the 10 that we took from the tens place and give it to the 5 in the ones place. Now, 5 plus 10 is 15.
Now we can just subtract: 15 minus 8 is 7. Now we’ll subtract the tens place: 5 minus 2 is 3.
Giving us an answer of 37. Remember, when you’re solving Halloween or any word problems, look and underline the important information in the word problem. Remember those words like “fewer” or “less than” usually mean you’re going to be subtracting in that word problem.
Great work, everyone! I’ll see you next time. Don’t forget to like us and subscribe to our channel. You can find links to our apps in the comments below.
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