Comparison Word Problems up to 20: What is the Smaller Amount?
🐭 Time for a shrinking puzzle! If you know how big the giant is, and you know the difference, can you find out how tiny the small thing is?
Do this: Read the concept below, then try the quiz or activity.
Concept
In these comparison stories, you have to work backward to find the SMALLEST number!
🎯 The "Find the Tiny" Strategy: Story: "A giant stepped exactly 18 times to cross a bridge. A goblin took 6 FEWER steps than the giant. How many steps did the goblin take?" * Large Amount: The giant took 18 steps. * The Difference: The goblin took 6 fewer steps. * Small Amount: ???
Equation: Since we want to find the tiny amount the goblin took, we need to SUBTRACT the difference from the giant's amount! * 18 (giant's steps) - 6 (the difference) = 12. * Answer: The goblin took 12 steps!
When you want to find the smaller amount, you SUBTRACT (-).
Try it
Find the tiny amount!
Instructions: Read the story and subtract to find the smaller amount.
Problem 1: A tall building is 20 stories high. A short building is 8 stories shorter. How many stories high is the short building? * Large amount: 20 * Difference: 8 * Equation: 20 - 8 = ___ * Answer: ___ stories.
Problem 2: Sarah has 15 toy dinosaurs. Her little sister has 4 fewer dinosaurs. How many dinosaurs does her sister have? * Equation: 15 - ___ = ___ * Answer: ___ dinosaurs.
Problem 3: A cheetah ran for 17 seconds. A turtle ran for 10 fewer seconds than the cheetah. How many seconds did the turtle run? * Answer: The turtle ran for ___ seconds.