I.
WORK BACKWARD & PURSUE PARITY
II. LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
a. Define “Work Backward” and “Pursue Parity”
b. Explain “Work Backward” and “Pursue Parity” strategies in his/her own words
c. Develop and use “Work Backward” and “Pursue Parity” strategies in problem-
solving
III. MOTIVATION/ GETTING STARTED
4Pics1word
STRATEGY
How to play:
Four pictures are presented and then tasks you with guessing what
specific word fits with the theme of the photos presented.
IV. INTRODUCTION
Like a movie that rewinds from the back to the front, "Work Backward" strategy
works the same way. The starting value is unknown but the end result is given. Work
backward by undoing the key action at each stage step by step, from the end result to
the starting point. “Pursue Parity” strategy, on the other hand, refers to whether a
number is even or odd. While this may seem highly basic, checking the parity of
numbers is often an useful tactic for solving problems, especially with proof by
contradictions and casework.
V. DISCUSSION
To solve a problem by working backwards, we basically want to undo the problem
step-by-step. We start at the end of the problem and work through to the beginning. In
other words, we do as the name of this solving process suggests, we work backwards.
The working backward heuristic is a method of problem solving in which an
individual imagines they have already solved the problem they are trying to solve.
Here’s an example for “Work Backward” strategy:
Sam’s mom left a plate of cookies on the counter. Sam ate 2 of them, his dad ate 3 of
them and they gave 12 to the neighbor. At the end of the day, only 4 cookies were left
on the plate. How many cookies did she make altogether?
In this case, we know that the final cookie amount is 4. So if we work backwards to
“put back” all the cookies that were taken or eaten, we can figure out what number
they started with. Because cookies are being taken away, that denotes subtraction.
Thus, to get back to the original number we have to do the opposite: add. If you take
the 4 that are left and add the 12 given to the neighbors, and add the 3 that Dad ate,
and then add the 2 that Sam ate, we find that Sam’s mom made 21 cookies.
To solve a problem by pursuing parity, this concept begins with integers. An even
number is an integer that is "evenly divisible" by 2, i.e., divisible by 2 without
remainder; an odd number is an integer that is not evenly divisible by 2. A formal
definition of an even number is that it is an integer of the form n = 2k, where k is an
integer; it can then be shown that an odd number is an integer of the form n = 2k + 1.
This strategy only applies to integers, not fractions or decimals.
Here’s an example for “Pursue Parity” strategy:
Ten balls numbered $1$ to $10$ are in a jar. Jack reaches into the jar and randomly
removes one of the balls. Then Jill reaches into the jar and randomly removes a
different ball. The probability that the sum of the two numbers on the balls removed
is even is:
For the sum of the two numbers removed to be even, they must be of the same parity.
There are five even values and five odd values.
No matter what Jack chooses, the number of numbers with the same parity is four.
There are nine numbers total, so the probability Jill chooses a number with the same
parity as Jack's is 4/9.
VI. APPLICATION
Many real-life problems, not just in mathematics, can be solved using these two
strategy. For example in working backward, in a dancing competition all the
contestants started dancing together. After three minutes half the people were
eliminated. During the next ten minutes half of the remaining were eliminated. At the
15-minute mark, half again were eliminated, and at the 20- minute mark, half of those
still remaining were eliminated. In the last two minutes one more contestant was
eliminated leaving a winner of the competition. How many dancers were there in the
beginning? You know that there is one winner and that the number of contestants was
halved at certain intervals. Using this information, it is possible to work backwards
and find out how many dancers entered the competition. In pursue parity,
VII. SUMMARY OF THE LESSON
To summarize the report, The working backward heuristic is a problem-solving
strategy in which a person imagines they have already solved the problem at hand.
VIII. ASSESSMENT
Solve the given problem. Show your solution.
1. Lynn’s mom gave Lynn some lunch money. After spending $3 on a sandwich and
$1 on milk, she still has $2. How much was her lunch money?
2. After Connor gave 4 toy cars to Ben and 1 toy car to Melissa, he now has 3 toy
cars. How many toy cars did he have at the beginning?
3. Gina lost half of her pencils. She now has only 4 pencils. How many pencils did
she have before?
4. Sam collects baseball cards. He gave 6 cards to his brother. He then got 4 new
cards from his father. Sam now has 12 cards. How many baseball cards did he have
before he given some to his brother?
5. Sandra made some muffins yesterday. Today she made 6 more muffins than
yesterday but ate 3 of them. She gave two muffins to her sister Anna. She now has 15
muffins left. How many muffins did she bake yesterday?
