The Dishes Problem

Solving without algebra:

Without algebra, it would be something like…

2 people share 1 dish of rice 

3 people share  1 dish or broth

4 people share 1 dish of meat 

(12 is the lowest common multiple)

So 12 people needs 6 dishes of rice, 4 dishes of broth, and 3 dishes of meat, that is 13 dishes in total. 

If every guests eats 13 dishes, then we have 65x12=780 dishes in total. 

Then we can use 780/13 =60 to find out there are 60 guests in the feast.

It does make a difference to our students to offer examples, puzzles, and histories of mathematics from diverse cultures because it adds more fun! Math is a universal language that is shared among different cultures. It would be interesting to learn how mathematics has evolved to become universal in today's world by looking at it from different cultural perspectives. 

In terms of presentation of the problem, I would be more focused if puzzle story and images are presented with the word problems. It allows students to imagine and picture the problem in their heads, and it tends to be more attractive than just having words.