MODULE THREE
PROBLEM SOLVING
AND REASONING
MATHEMATICS IS NOT JUST ABOUT
NUMBERS BUT MUCH OF IT IS
PROBLEM SOLVING
AND REASONING.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. State different types of reasoning to justify
statements and arguments made about
mathematics and mathematical concept.
2. Write clear and logical proofs.
3. Solve problems involving patterns and
recreational problems following Polya’s four
steps.
4. Organize one’s methods and approaches for
proving and solving problems.
Lesson 3.1
INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE
REASONING
At the end of this lesson, the students should
be able to:
1. Define inductive and deductive reasoning.
2. Differentiate inductive reasoning from
deductive reasoning.
3. Demonstrate the correct way in using the
two kinds of reasoning.
4. Apply the concept of patterns in
mathematics to solve problems in inductive
and deductive reasoning which lead into
correct conjecture by creating their own
reasoning.
Lesson 3.1
INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE
REASONING
A. INDUCTIVE REASONING
type of reasoning that forms a conclusion based
on the examination of specific examples
uses a set of specific observations to reach an
overarching conclusion or it is the process of
recognizing or observing patterns and
drawing a conclusion
the process of reaching a general conclusion
by examining specific examples
does not guarantee a true result, it only provides a
means of making a conjecture
Conjecture - the conclusion formed by
using
inductive reasoning
DIAGRAM
“ Then” and “now” Approach
“Then” idea - to use the data to find
pattern and make a prediction
“Now” idea - to make a conjecture based on
the inductive reasoning or find a
counterexample
EXAMPLES:
1. Use inductive reasoning to predict the
next number in each of the following list:
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, ?
Each successive number is three (3) larger
than the preceding number.
If the first number is increased by 3
the result is 6. Now, when this 6 is
increased by 3 the next number
would be 9. If we are going to
continue the process, if 15 is
increased by 3 then the next
number would be 18. Hence the
required number is 18.
2. Write a conjecture that describe the
pattern
2, 4, 12, 48, 240. Then use the
conjecture to find the next item in the
sequence.
2, 4, 12, 48, 240, ?
The numbers are multiplied by 2, then
3, then 4, then 5. The next number will
be the product of 240 times 6 or
1,440.
Conjecture: Now, the answer is 1,440.
3. Write a conjecture that describes the pattern
shown below. How many segments could be
formed on the fifth figure?
3-segments 9-segments 18-segments
3 9 18 30 ? ( 45)
+6 +9 +12 +15
CONJECTURE: Hence, the fifth figure will
have 45 segments.
APPLICATION OF INDUCTIVE REASONING
(USING INDUCTIVE REASONING TO
SOLVE A PROBLEM)
Example 1
Use the data below and with the use of
inductive reasoning, answer each of the
following questions:
1. If a pendulum has a length of 49 units, what
is its period?
2. If the length of a pendulum is quadrupled,
what happens to its period?
Note: The period of a pendulum is the time it
takes for the pendulum to swing from left to
right and back to its original position.
LENGTH OF PERIOD OF
PENDULUM IN PENDULUM IN
UNITS HEARTBEATS
1 1
4 2
9 3
16 4
25 5
36 6
Solution:
1. In the table, each pendulum has a period
that is the square root of its length. Thus,
we conjecture that a pendulum with a
length of 49 units will have a period of 7
heartbeats.
2. In the table, a pendulum with a length of 4
units has a period that is twice that of
pendulum with a length of 1 unit. A
pendulum with a length of 16 units has a
period that is twice that of pendulum with
a
length of 4 units. It appears that
quadrupling the length of a pendulum
Example 2
The diagram below shows a series
of squares formed by small square
tiles. Complete the table below.
Figure 1st 2nd 3rd 4t 5t 6th 10th 15t
h h h
Number 4 8 12 16
of
Tiles
SOLUTIONS:
1. Based on the given figures from the first up to
fourth, we need to observe and analyse what is
really happening in the said figures.
2. Next, take a look if there is a pattern. Is there
any pattern that you may observe? If so, what it is?
For sure you could say that from the first figure,
each subsequent square increases by four (4) tiles.
How?
Let us take a look at this
Number of Tiles : 4 8 12 16
Pattern: +4 +4 +4
So, if each subsequent square
increases by four, we could say that
the 5th, 6th, 10th, and the 15th figure
should have 20, 24, 40 and 60
squares respectively.
Hence, the complete table would be;
Figure 1s 2nd 3rd 4t 5t 6th 10th 15t
t h h h
Number 4 8 12 16 20 24 40 60
of
Tiles
B. DEDUCTIVE REASONING
a basic form of valid reasoning starts out
with a general statement, or hypothesis, and
examines the possibilities to reach a
specific, logical conclusion
works from the more general to the more
specific
the process of reaching specific conclusion
by applying general ideas or assumptions,
procedure or principle
a process of reasoning logically from given
statement to a conclusion
Example 1
First Premise:
All positive counting numbers whose
unit digit is divisible by two are even
numbers.
Second Premise:
A positive counting number 1,236 has
a unit digit of 6 which is divisible by
two.
Conclusion:
Therefore, 1,236 is an even number.
Example 2
First Premise:
If the Department of Education strictly
observed health conditions of the students
due to Covid 19, then there is no face-to-
face teaching and learning activity in a
classroom.
Second Premise:
The Philippines is currently experiencing
Covid 19 pandemic.
Conclusion:
Therefore, there will be no face-to-face
teaching and learning style in a classroom.
Lesson 3.2
INTUITION, PROOF AND CERTAINTY
Specific Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the student
should be able to:
1. Define and differentiate intuition,
proof and certainty.
2. Make use of intuition to solve
problem.
3. Name and prove some mathematical
statement with the use of different
kinds of proving.
INTUITION
an immediate understanding or knowing
something without reasoning
does not require a big picture or full
understanding of the problem, as it uses a lot
of small pieces of abstract information that
you have in your memory to create a
reasoning leading to your decision just from
the limited information you have about the
problem in hand
comes from noticing, thinking and questioning
the ability to know something without having
proof
Things to be Done to Build and Improve
the Intuition of the Students
a. Be observant and see things visually
towards with your critical thinking.
b. Make your own manipulation on the things
that you have noticed and observed.
c. Do the right thinking and make a
connections with it before doing the
solution.
Refer to the illustration on page 109 of the
Learning Modules.
PROOF AND CERTAINTY
A proof is an inferential argument for a
mathematical statement while proofs
are an example of mathematical logical
certainty.
Mathematical proof is an inferential
argument for
a mathematical statement, showing
that the stated assumptions logically
guarantee the conclusion.
A mathematical proof is a list of
statements in which every statement is
one of the following:
(1) an axiom
(2) derived from previous statements by a
rule of inference
(3) a previously derived theorem
METHODS OF PROOF
TWO WAYS ON HOW TO PRESENT THE
PROOF
1. Outline Form
2. Paragraph Form
KINDS OF PROOF
1. Direct proof- a mathematical argument
that uses rules of inference to derive the
conclusion from the premises.
2. Indirect proof (Contrapositive proof)
- a type of proof in which a statement to be
proved is assumed false and if the assumption
leads to an impossibility, then the statement
assumed false has been proved to be true.
p →q Read : If p, then q. Conditional
statement
Logically equivalent to ~q →~p =
contrapositive form of the statement p →q.
LESSON 3.3
Polya’s Four Steps in Problem Solving
GEORGE POLYA
one of the foremost recent mathematicians to make a
study of problem solving
born in Hungary and moved to the United States in
1940
known as “The Father of Problem Solving”.
made fundamental contributions to combinatorics,
number theory,numerical analysis and probability
theory
noted for his work in heuristics and mathematics
education.
Heuristic, a Greek word means that "find" or "discover"
refers to experience-based techniques for problem
solving, learning, and discovery that gives a solution
which is not guaranteed to be optimal.
POLYA’S FOUR STEPS IN
SOLVING PROBLEM
1. Understand the Problem
2. Devise a Plan
3. Carry out the plan
4. Look back or Review the
Solution