Yr 2 maths question - legitimate question or am I being pedantic?

[betterwhenthesunshines]

Write out the sum for each problem:
"Simon has 20 Pokemon cards. Stuart has half as many. How many does Simon have?"

Well Simon still has 20 [hah ha] but I'm assuming the question should be "How many does Stuart have?"

My DD knows the answer but not sure how to write it. Strictly speaking it should be 20 x 0.5 but I'm guessing that they haven't yet covered multiplying by decimal fractions [ hmm].

So is she supposed to write 20 {divide} 2 = 10 ?

But the original number of books isn't actually being divided.... am I being pedantic?

If you're going to be pedantic then point out sum means addition and really the word calculation should be used (Ofsted would pull it up!). Personally I'd put 20, it could be seeing if your daughter has read and interpreted the question.

You could write if Stuart has half as many books as Simon then Stuart has ten books and Simon has twenty.

Then you've answered the question in the spirit that is was asked. It's also verbally reasoned rather than set out in mathematical notation which might suggest that a verbal response is expected.

Where do books come into it?

Sum has more than one meaning. Lots of nouns have multiple meanings.

nmason
If you're going to be pedantic then point out sum means addition and really the word calculation should be used (Ofsted would pull it up!). Yes, I had seen that too! Particularly as the last question is "What is the sum of mrs X and Mrs Y's books?" :o
Personally I'd put 20, it could be seeing if your daughter has read and interpreted the question I wondered that too, but there is a similar question further on with the same awkward wording.

learnand say no, I'm sure they want it as a mathematical notation.

If it says "write out the sum for..." then the answer they're looking for must be 20 / 2 = 10
Or 20 * 1/2 = 10

I'd add a note myself saying "We assumed Simon was a typo for Stuart - hope that was right? Mum"

DaisySteiner Sorry, books is the other question further down:

"Mrs X has 50 books. Mrs Y has half as many. How many books does Mrs Y have?" and then "What is the sum of Mrs x and Mrs Y's books?"

DilysPrice see, the wording on your note is a lot nicer than the wording on mine would be This is not a clearly worded question. And the whole worksheet is one that obviously hasn't been checked before it was simply downloaded from a website, or copied from an out of date book

I just know that sometimes children get in the habit of answering questions by looking at the numbers and as teachers we throw some red herrings in to make the point that you need to understand the question. I remember doing the classic 'a farmer has 6 sheep, 2 goats and 10 cows, how many legs has he got?'

How many legs has he got? That's not only a mean question it's ambiguous! Because technically the farmer owns all of the legs so he's got 74 legs, including his own.

So I read the book one as a 2 part question rather than a one part questoon with a requiest to show workings,

part 1 = how many books does Y have:25

part 2 = what is the sum (i.e. total) of their books, so add X and Y's books together, so 75 (50 +25)

Yes we don't have a problem with the working out required. No problem there, but how do you show your workings mathematically? In your head you just know that half of 50 is 25 ( or half of 20 is 10). And obviously half is the same as dividing the original number by 2.

However what they are asking is to put the verbal statement into a mathematical statement. And if you write 50 {divide} 2 = 25. Then the verbal statement should be something like "Mrs X has 50 books that she shares between 2 children. How many books do they have each?" But it isn't!

I think the correct answer is 20 x 1 = 20

Or half of 20 = 10

but then that's verbal again!

It looks as though the class have been working on doubling and halving so, if this were my DD and she asked for help, I'd encourage her to write something along the lines of:

Simon = 20 cards
1/2 of 20 = 10
so Stuart has 10 cards

That doesn't meet the requirement of the 'sum' but I'd interpret that as 'number sentence'. My Y4 class know full well that I expect them to show the process they went through when answering word problems, even if the calculation they used is one they know by heart. Therefore, if they know that 10 is half of 20 I'd expect them to write that somehow, whether using digits and symbols or words.