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Top 4th Grade Math Word Problems

4th grade math word problems go beyond just numbers and text; they’re like little stories with math integrated into them. As a teacher or a parent, you help students break down these scenarios into simpler parts and show the kids how the numbers connect to the stories they are attached to.

The beauty of solving these 4th grade word math problems is not just in becoming better at math, it is more- the kids get to see how math plays out in real-life scenarios instead of just on paper. Word problem teaches kids more about basic math than you can ever imagine. With every short story, their understanding of the math concept widens, so you must explore as much foundational help with 4th grade math word problems as possible. 

The Most Popular Math Word Problems 4th Grade

When teaching your kids math word problems 4th grade, you want to be sure that you are using the right math word problems for 4th grade that help your kids understand word problems better. You have to ensure that you are following the curriculum by using common core math word problems 4th grade, 4th grade math word problems multi step and 4th grade math division word problems. 

You also want to start with the basics because you are dealing with 4th graders. So here are top math 4th grade word problems you can start with: 

Problem:

Sarah wrote down the number 730,918. She asked Jake to change the order of the digits to make the highest number. What number did Jake make?

Solution:

Sarah had the number 730,918. To make the highest number, Jake simply arranged the digits from largest to smallest:

Digits in the numbers: 7, 3, 0, 9, 1, 8

Rearranging them: 9, 8, 7, 3, 1, 0

So, Jake made the number 987,310, which is the highest number possible.

Problem:

Miss Amy gave her class these digits: 3, 6, 8, 2, 1, 4, and 6. She asked them to create the smallest possible number using each digit only once. What would that number be?

To create the smallest number, the digits should be arranged in ascending order:

Digits: 3, 6, 8, 2, 1, 4, 6

Arranging them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 8

So, the smallest number the students can make using these digits is 1234668.

Problem:

A special code needs to be cracked! The code numbers are 39, 38, 36, 35, and 33. Can you spot the pattern and figure out the following two numbers?

Solution:

To solve this code, we need to go down by 1 and then down by 2 each time.

Starting from 39:

39 – 1 = 38

38 – 2 = 36

36 – 1 = 35

35 – 2 = 33

Following the pattern:

33 – 1 = 32

32 – 2 = 30

So, the next two numbers are 32 and 30.

Problem:

Rob’s bicycle costs $50 more than Ben’s bicycle. If Rob’s bicycle costs $160, how much does Ben’s bicycle cost?

Solution:

Rob’s bicycle costs $160. Since it costs $50 more than Ben’s bicycle, we can find out how much Ben’s bicycle costs by taking away that extra $50 from Rob’s bicycle cost:

Rob’s bicycle cost: $160

Extra cost: $50

Ben’s bicycle cost = Rob’s bicycle cost – Extra cost

Ben’s bicycle cost = $160 – $50 = $110

So, Ben’s bicycle costs $110.

Problem:

A new birdhouse attracted a bunch of birds. 

There were:

8 bluebirds

10 robins

6 sparrows

4 cardinals

Let’s figure out how many birds were there in total!

Solution:

We just need to add up the numbers of each type of bird:

8 (bluebirds) + 10 (robins) + 6 (sparrows) + 4 (cardinals) = 28

So, there were 28 birds in total at the new birdhouse.

Problem:

During the Happy Feet Shoe Store’s weekend sale that lasted for 3 days:

Day 1: 60 pairs of shoes

Day 2: 70 pairs of shoes

Day 3: 50 pairs of shoes

Let’s discover how many pairs of shoes they sold altogether:

60 (Day 1) + 70 (Day 2) + 50 (Day 3) = 180

So, 180 pairs of shoes were sold over the three days at the Happy Feet Shoe Store.

Problem:

Ben visited Wally’s Pastries for lunch and bought:

A delicious drink for $1.50

A tasty sandwich for $4.00

A tasty cookie for 75 cents

Ben gave the cashier a $10 bill. How much change did he get back?

Ben’s lunch total comes from adding up the costs of the drink, sandwich, and cookie:

Total cost = Delicious drink + Tasty sandwich + Scrumptious cookie

Total cost = $1.50 + $4.00 + $0.75 = $6.25

Ben paid with a $10 bill. To figure out his change, we subtract the total cost from the amount he paid:

Change = Amount paid – Total cost

Change = $10.00 – $6.25 = $3.75

Therefore, Ben received $3.75 as a change from the cashier at Wally’s Pastries.

Problem:

In the barn, there were:

2 dogs

3 ducks

Dogs have 4 legs each, and ducks have 2 legs each. To find out the total number of legs, we can count the legs from each type of animal and then add them together:

Legs from dogs: 2 dogs × 4 legs each = 8 legs

Legs from ducks: 3 ducks × 2 legs each = 6 legs

Total legs = Legs from dogs + Legs from ducks

Total legs = 8 legs + 6 legs = 14 legs

So, there were a total of 14 legs in the barn.

Problem:

A magician named Alex pulled animals out of a hat:

– 3 cute birds

– 3 times as many fluffy bunnies as birds

– 2 times as many squirrels as bunnies

How many animals did Alex pull out in all?

Solution:

Since there were 3 birds, let’s find how many bunnies that would be:

Bunnies = 3 birds × 3 = 9 bunnies

And since there were 2 times as many squirrels as bunnies:

Squirrels = 9 bunnies × 2 = 18 squirrels

Now, let’s add up the animals:

Total animals = Birds + Bunnies + Squirrels

Total animals = 3 birds + 9 bunnies + 18 squirrels = 30 animals

So, Alex pulled out a total of 30 animals from the hat.

Problem:

A baker is decorating a cake with a circle of berries:

There are 4 strawberries.

The baker wants to place 3 blueberries between each strawberry.

How many blueberries does the baker need?

To find out the total number of blueberries, we count the spaces between the strawberries and then multiply by the number of blueberries between each space:

Total blueberries = Number of spaces × Blueberries between each space

Total blueberries = 3 spaces × 3 blueberries = 9 blueberries

So, the baker needs 9 blueberries for the cake decoration.

Conclusion 

One thing that you can be sure of is that your 4th grader will find word problems interesting. You, however, must ensure that you are teaching them the right 4th grade math division word problems. The list of word problems above should help you with the basics. If you want to ensure your kid gets the best out of their 4th grade math word problems, sign them up on Brighterly.com. 

Brighterly is a platform where parents can meet highly trained and professional tutors to help their kids improve their math using videos and games to ensure better concentration.