The purpose of this activity is for students to think about the information needed to solve different types of story problems. In previous activities, students solved many different types of story problems given the necessary information. In this activity, students sort story problems into two categories: those that do not include enough information to solve the problem and those with some extra information given in the problem that is not needed to solve the problem. This sorting task gives students opportunities to analyze story problems closely and make connections (MP7). When students identify information they need to know and don’t need to know to answer a question, they model with mathematics (MP4).

• Display the story problem from Card D.
• “Does this story problem have too much information or not enough?” (It has too much and not enough at the same time.)
• “What information do we need to solve the problem?” (How many counters did Noah put in his cup?)
• “What information is given that we might not need?” (3 of his counters were red and 7 were yellow.)
• “Why might we not need this information?” (It will not help us find how many are still on his desk. The color won’t change the number of counters. It would only matter if he is playing Shake and Spill—Cover.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to solve different types of story problems. In the previous activity, students determined whether story problems did not have enough information or had unnecessary information in the story. In this activity, students cross out any unnecessary information in the story problems that had too much information and solve them. When students identify or find the information they need to solve a problem, they model with mathematics (MP4).

As an extension to this activity, consider inviting students to ask questions to gather the information needed to solve the problems with not enough information.

Here are sample responses to the information students need to gather:

• Elena has 5 pencils.
• Noah put 7 counters under his cup.
• Noah is playing Shake and Spill—Cover
• Kiran ate 6 carrots.

• Invite previously identified students to share the information they needed, the information they did not need, and how they solved the problem.