Model Method - Questions and Answers

Question posted by Betty from the United States:

Grade/Level: Grade 5

Question: Sheela spent 1/4 of her day doing a project. She then rested for 1/12 of the day. How much longer did she spend working on the project than on resting?



Step 1: Draw a long bar to represent the total number of hours of her day, i.e., 24 hours. Divide it into 4 equal parts and label 1 part spent on project (1/4).


Step 2: Next label 1/12 of the day as "rest". To label 1/12, we need to further sub-divide the whole bar into 12 equal parts.


Since project took up 3 units of her time and rest took up 1 unit of her time. Their difference must equal to 2 units.

12 units ----------> 24 hours

1 unit ----------> 24 hours / 12 = 2 hours

2 units ----------> 2 X 2hours = 4 hours

Therefore, she spent 4 hours longer on project than resting.