Relevant and Irrelevant Information Lesson Topic Index | Grade 4 Math | Elementary Test Prep | StudyZone

 relevant- information that is important irrelevant- information that is not needed

 I own 3 dogs.  Their names are Riley, Shadow, and Tapper.  Riley is 1 years old.  Shadow and Tapper are the same age.   When you add all 3 dogs ages it equals 7. Riley is a black lab.  Shadow and Tapper are little dogs.  How old are my 3 dogs?

Let's list all of the information, and classify it as either relevant or irrelevant.

 I own 3 dogs. relevant Their names are Riley, Shadow, and Tapper. irrelevant Riley is 1 years old. relevant Shadow and Tapper are the same age. relevant When you add all 3 dogs ages it equals 7. relevant Riley is a black lab. irrelevant Shadow and Tapper are little dogs. irrelevant How old are my 3 dogs? relevant

Once we see what information is important (relevant) it's easy to see how to solve the problem.

Riley is 1
Tapper and Shadow are the same age.
1 + n + n = 7

1 + 3 + 3 = 7

The dogs are 1, 3, and 3.

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