Today’s problem — free all day, every step. Every day has one.
Cookies — Mrs Hoon's chocolate and almond batch
Mrs Hoon made some cookies to sell. of them were chocolate cookies and the rest were almond cookies. After selling 210 almond cookies and of the chocolate cookies, she had of the cookies left. How many cookies did Mrs Hoon sell?
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960 cookies sold, out of 1200 made.
The pattern behind it: Branching
The second fraction is of one piece, not of the whole.
In this one. A fraction of a fraction: the second cut happens inside the part, not on the whole. 1/6 of 3/4 = 1/6 × 3/4 = 1/8 of everything — and once both leftovers are measured against the same whole, 1/5 − 1/8 = 3/40 gives the almond left.
How to spot it
A second fraction arrives after the first and is attached to a piece rather than to the whole — 'of the remainder', 'of what was left', or 'of the ones that were red'.
Common mistake
Children take the second fraction of the original total instead of the piece it was named against, which makes the amount come out too big.
Try one like it
Standard A dress and a handbag — Mei's savings Mei spent $48 on a dress. This was 3/8 of her savings. After buying the dress, she spent 1/5 of the remaining savings on a handbag…The 33 problem patterns
All 33 patterns, one to a page — the 19 behind Primary 5 and 6 word problems, and the skills the younger years are built on. The bar model, how to spot it in the question, and the mistake children make. A booklet you can print. Free.
A PDF, and a note when new solutions go up.