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Stickers — Priya gives some away, 36 left
Priya had some stickers. She gave of her stickers to her sister. Then she gave of the remaining stickers to her friend. She was left with 36 stickers. How many stickers did Priya have at first?
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The pattern behind it: Branching
The second fraction is of one piece, not of the whole.
In this one. The second fraction is taken of the remainder, not of the whole — and because the remainder is already 5 of the original 8 units, its fifths are those units, so 36 is 3 units, i.e. 3/8 of what she started with.
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.
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