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📊 Diagrams, Tables, and Equations

Every word problem can be drawn, tabled, or written as an equation. Learn three powerful ways to picture a problem — and pick the one that cracks it fastest.

lessons

~15 min

to learn

🔢 Math

subject

Ages 6–12

level

Start the course →

What you’ll learn

Draw the ProblemUse a bar model to represent a whole and its parts and find a missing part.A bar model turns a word problem into a diagram: draw the whole as a bar and split it into parts. When the whole is 20 and one part is 12, the picture shows the missing part is 8 (whole minus known part). Diagrams make hidden numbers easy to see.
Organise with a TableOrganise repeating information in a table and use the pattern to read off any value.Tables tidy up problems that repeat. Listing pencils (1, 2, 3, 4) against their cost (3p, 6p, 9p, 12p) shows the cost climbing 3p each time. Once the pattern is clear you can predict any row, even ones not shown, like 5 pencils costing 15p.
Write an EquationTranslate a word problem into a simple equation and solve it using inverse operations.An equation captures a problem in symbols: 'a number plus 5 is 12' becomes n + 5 = 12. Solve by doing the inverse — subtract 5 to get n = 7. Clue words help you choose the operation: 'altogether' means add, 'how many more' means subtract.

Questions this course answers

A bar model shows a whole of 20 with one part of 12. What is the other part?

The parts must add to the whole, so 20 − 12 = 8.

How does a bar model help solve a word problem?

A bar model represents the problem as a diagram, so the missing amount becomes easy to see.

Pencils cost 3p each. Using the table pattern, what do 5 pencils cost?

The cost goes up 3p per pencil: 5 × 3p = 15p.

What is the main reason to put a repeating problem in a table?

A table organises the values so the pattern shows clearly and any row can be read off.

Solve the equation n + 5 = 12.

Do the inverse of adding 5: subtract 5 from 12 to get n = 7.

Which word usually tells you to SUBTRACT?

'How many more' asks for a difference between two amounts, which means subtracting.

Grounded in trusted sources

BBC Bitesize — problem solving
Khan Academy — one-step equations
NRICH — bar modelling

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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Wunder is a personalized learn-anything platform — tell it any topic and it builds a beautiful, fact-checked course in minutes, with narration, a knowledge check, and a college-style University track.

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