Bar diagrams can help you solve some problems.
Alicia bought 10 apples and Peter bought 5
Place one diagram above the other when comparing and try to size the rectangle approximately. As 10 is 2 x 5, Alicia's bar is twice as long as Peter's
Peter and Edmund collected a total of 200 Basketball cards altogether.
If Peter has twice as much cards as Edmund. How many cards does Edmund own?
Read all the problem carefully trying to understand the situation, then use bars to represent the numbers.
Draw one bar for every value, a bar above another one using a ruler to size them. Peter's bar is 2 times as long as Edmund's. Brackets are used to indicate values. Place a ? where you don't know a value that you will need to find out.
This value or part that you do not know is called a unit. In this case the unit fits 2 times in Peter's value. The unit is Edmund and so it is 3 times in the problem, 2 times in Peter and 1 time in Edmund.
Susan and Maria spent $30 at the mall. When they come back home, Susan has no money left while Maria still has $3. If Susan spent twice as much as Maria. How much money did Susan spend?
The unit repeats 3 times in the problem.
33-3=30
30:3=10
Maria has $3 left -------->
