Visual Problem Solving

Lesson Overview

Year Level: Prep
Lesson Duration: 30 minutes
Unit: Problem Solving Adventures (Lesson 3 of 6)
Curriculum Area: Mathematics – Problem-Solving and Reasoning
Australian Curriculum Reference:

• ACMNA289 – Represent practical situations involving addition, subtraction and sharing using physical objects, drawings, and diagrams.
• ACMSP011 – Sort and classify familiar objects and explain the basis for these classifications.

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Use drawings and diagrams to help solve simple problems.
2. Represent numbers in a visual format using pictures.
3. Explain how their drawings help to find solutions.

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Materials Required

✅ A3 sheets of paper (one per student)
✅ Whiteboard and markers
✅ Coloured pencils/crayons
✅ Counting blocks or small objects (e.g., counters or buttons)

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Lesson Structure

1. Warm-Up Activity (5 mins) – Picture Puzzles

• Gather students on the floor and display a simple picture puzzle on the board (e.g., a drawing of two groups of flowers, one with 3 and one with 2).
• Ask: "How many flowers do you see? Can we count them together?"
• Encourage students to explain their thinking: "What if we drew circles around groups? Would that help?"
• Use student ideas to introduce the concept of using pictures to help solve problems.

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2. Introduction to Visual Aids (8 mins) – Story Time & Demonstration

• Tell a short, engaging story: "Tom has 4 apples. He picks 2 more. How many apples does he have now?"
• Draw a simple diagram on the board representing Tom's apples with basic illustrations.
• Discuss with students:
  • "How does this drawing help us?"
  • "Can we use drawings to solve other problems?"
• Reinforce that pictures are a way to show our thinking, just like using words or numbers.

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3. Hands-On Activity (10 mins) – Draw the Solution

• Hand out A3 sheets of paper and coloured pencils.
• Provide two different problem scenarios:
  • "Ella has 3 balloons. She is given 2 more. How many does she have?"
  • "Sam has 5 toy cars. He gives 2 away. How many are left?"
• Students work in pairs to draw their own visual representation to solve the problems.
• Walk around, ask guiding questions ("How did you show this part of the problem?"), and offer support.

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4. Reflection & Share (5 mins) – Show and Tell

• Invite 2-3 students to present their drawings to the class.
• Encourage them to explain their picture and how it helped them find the answer.
• Reinforce: "Using drawings is a great way to help our brains understand and solve problems!"

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Assessment & Differentiation

Assessment

✔ Observation – Are students correctly representing problems with drawings?
✔ Verbal explanations – Can they describe how their picture helped them?
✔ Peer discussion – Can they compare their approaches with a partner?

Differentiation Strategies

🔹 For students who need support: Offer pre-drawn outlines (e.g., empty circles for counting). Use small physical objects like blocks to help them translate to drawings.
🔹 For students ready for a challenge: Provide multi-step problems (e.g., "Lily has 3 pencils. She gets 4 more and then gives 2 away. How many left?").

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Extension Activity (For Early Finishers)

🖍 Create Your Own Problem: Students draw their own simple story problem and swap with a partner to solve!

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Conclusion

By using visual aids like drawings and diagrams, students begin to build problem-solving skills in a fun and age-appropriate way. This lesson connects to real-life ways of making sense of numbers and sets strong foundations for mathematical reasoning.

🌟 Tomorrow, we’ll explore how we can use physical objects to test our answers!