Solving Money Word Problems Using Bar Models

MatholiaChannel

This educational video demonstrates how to solve money-based word problems using the bar model method, a key visualization strategy often associated with Singapore Math. The video presents two distinct scenarios: one requiring addition to find a total cost, and another requiring subtraction to calculate change or remaining funds. By visualizing quantities as bars of varying lengths, the video helps students bridge the gap between text-based problems and mathematical operations. The content focuses on two primary mathematical themes: addition of multiple two-digit numbers involving cents, and subtraction of whole dollar amounts. It specifically highlights how to represent these values visually, with longer bars representing larger values and shorter bars representing smaller values. The video also touches upon unit conversion, demonstrating that 100 cents equals one dollar. For educators, this video serves as an excellent tool for introducing or reinforcing the "part-part-whole" concept in problem-solving. It is particularly useful for students who struggle to identify which operation to use in word problems. Teachers can use this resource to model how to extract information from a text problem, represent it visually to check for reasonableness, and then perform the calculation to find the final answer.