Math word problems worksheet for elementary students.

Let’s go through each problem one by one, step by step.

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Problem 1: How many sides are on 4 triangles?

- A triangle has 3 sides.
- So for 4 triangles:
→ 4 × 3 = 12 sides

✔ Check: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12 — correct.

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Problem 2: Finish the patterns

First pattern:
1, 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, __, __, 9, __

Look at the pattern:
It goes:
→ 1 (once), then 1 again? Wait — actually, it looks like pairs:
(1,1), (3,3), (5,5), so next should be (7,7), then 9, and then probably 9 again? But wait — after 5,5 comes blank, blank, then 9, then blank.

Actually, let’s list positions:

Position: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Values: 1 1 3 3 5 5 ? ? 9 ?

So every two numbers repeat an odd number:
1,1 → 3,3 → 5,5 → next should be 7,7 → then 9,9?

But position 9 is already 9 — so maybe position 10 should also be 9? Or maybe the pattern changes?

Wait — perhaps it's increasing by 2 every *pair*:

Pair 1: 1,1
Pair 2: 3,3
Pair 3: 5,5
Pair 4: 7,7 ← fills blanks 7 and 8
Then pair 5: 9,9 ← but position 9 is 9, so position 10 should be 9.

Yes! So:

Blanks:
After 5,5 → 7, 7
Then 9 → then 9

So full sequence:
1, 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9

Second pattern:
red, blue, yellow, yellow, red, blue, yellow, _____

Group them:
(red, blue, yellow, yellow) — that’s 4 items
Then repeats: red, blue, yellow, ___ → so next should be yellow to complete the group.

Pattern: [red, blue, yellow, yellow] repeating.

So after “red, blue, yellow” → next is yellow

Third pattern:
12, 14, 16, __, 20, 22, __

This is counting up by 2s:

12 → 14 (+2)
14 → 16 (+2)
16 → 18 (+2)
18 → 20 (+2)
20 → 22 (+2)
22 → 24 (+2)

So blanks: 18 and 24

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Problem 3: Share cake evenly with 6 friends

The cake is drawn as a rectangle divided into 3 equal vertical parts.

To share with 6 friends, you need 6 equal pieces.

Currently, there are 3 big pieces. If you cut each of those in half horizontally, you get 6 equal pieces.

So draw one horizontal line across the whole cake, cutting all 3 sections in half.

That gives 6 equal rectangles.

Another way? You could cut vertically into 6 thin slices — but since it’s already split into 3, easiest is to cut each third in half.

Or — if you want to think differently: cut the cake into 6 equal vertical strips from the start — but since it’s pre-divided into 3, the simplest extra cut is horizontal.

For “another way”: imagine cutting the cake into 6 equal vertical slices instead — so draw 5 vertical lines to make 6 columns. But since the diagram shows 3 columns, maybe they expect you to say: “Cut each column in half vertically?” No — that would make 6 long thin pieces — still valid.

Actually, best answer:
→ Draw a horizontal line across the entire cake to divide each of the 3 sections into 2 → total 6 equal pieces.

Another way: Cut the cake into 6 equal vertical slices (even though it’s shown as 3, you can ignore that and redraw). Or — cut diagonally? Not necessary. Simplest second way: cut each of the 3 sections into 2 smaller vertical pieces — so now you have 6 narrow vertical pieces.

Either way works.

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Problem 4: Money calculation

You have:

- 1 dime = 10 cents
- 2 nickels = 2 × 5 = 10 cents
- 1 quarter = 25 cents
- 3 pennies = 3 × 1 = 3 cents

Add them:

10 + 10 = 20
20 + 25 = 45
45 + 3 = 48 cents

✔ Total: 48¢ or $0.48

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Problem 5: Staircase cubes

Picture shows a staircase made of cubes:

From left to right:

- First column: 1 cube high
- Second column: 2 cubes high
- Third column: 3 cubes high

Total cubes in one staircase:
1 + 2 + 3 = 6 cubes

If you had 3 such staircases:
3 × 6 = 18 cubes

✔ Answer: 18

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Problem 6: Balloons

Wind blew away 12 balloons.
He has 17 left.

How many did he start with?

Start amount = blown away + left
= 12 + 17 = 29

✔ He started with 29 balloons

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Final Answer:

1. 12
2. Patterns:
- Numbers: 7, 7, 9
- Colors: yellow
- Numbers: 18, 24
3. Draw a horizontal line across the cake to make 6 equal pieces. Another way: cut each section vertically into 2 narrow pieces (total 6 vertical slices).
4. 48 cents
5. 18
6. 29