1. PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEM SOLVING Wednesday October 24, 2007
Ms. Manaktola
PROBLEM SOLVING

2. THE PYRAMID PROBLEM Golf balls are arranged in a square-based pyramid
There are 7 layers in total
How many golf balls are there in the pyramid?

3. Number of golf balls in each layer Total number of golf balls
Think, pair, share
Layer number
Number of golf balls in each layer
Pattern
Total number of golf balls 1 2 3

4. Make it a simpler problem
Layer number
Number of golf balls in each layer
Pattern
Total number of golf balls 1
1² = 1 2
2² = 4
1 + 4 5 3
3² = 9 14

5. solution
The number of golf balls in each layer is the layer number squared
Therefore, the number of golf balls in 7 layers =
1² + 2² + 3² + 4² + 5² + 6² + 7²
= 140 golf balls