Every story has parts and a whole. A tape diagram shows both.
Step 1: Let's Learn
Read it, or press Listen and follow the words.
Two bars and one bar
The two parts sit end to end on top. The whole sits underneath.
The missing piece
The striped bar is the piece the story is asking about.
Unknown is the number the story does not tell you yet.
Why draw a bar at all
A bar shows which numbers are parts and which is the whole. That is exactly what a word problem hides.
Draw before you choose an operation
Once the picture is right, the operation is obvious. Choosing first is how people add when they should subtract.
Step 2: Try It Yourself
Change the parts and watch the whole bar grow.
Red apples and Green apples
12
8
Apples in all
20
12 and 8 make 20.
Step 3: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Leo Draw a Story
There are 12 red apples and 8 green apples.
- Step 1
He draws one bar for the red apples and labels it 12.
Step 4: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
In the Fruit Bowl
Problem 1 of 1
14 red apples and 6 green apples. How many in all?
Red and Green
14
6
In all
?
Red
Green
apples
Find the Whole
1 of 3
Parts of 15 and 10. What is the whole?
2 of 3
Parts of 21 and 7. What is the whole?
3 of 3
Parts of 20 and 20. What is the whole?
Step 5: Quick Check
Show what you know.
Question 1 of 2
Parts of 13 and 12. What is the whole?
Question 2 of 2
Where does the whole go on the diagram?
What You Learned
- A tape diagram shows two parts and the whole.
- The parts sit end to end above the whole.
- The striped bar is what the story is asking for.