Can you solve this 2nd grade problem that has baffled adults?

A question assigned to 7 year old students completely stumped a mother who posted it online asking for help.

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Tyla

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[xenathcytrin]

looking at it, I genuinely have no idea what the problem even is.

[philosopherkingzant]

I need to go back to 2nd grade English because I had no idea what the question even asked

[Unknown-gctn]

The whole reason this is difficult is because you can overcomplicate the question

[redchan]

Honestly this feels more like a language comprehension question than a math question

If i were to construct the question i would write:

Use the following numbers to construct a valid equation by filling in the boxes below

2, 2, 6, 6, 8, 8, 0, 0, 0
[] [] [] + [] [] + [] = [] [] []

[BangkokBubonaglia]

The 3 zeroes are the key. Once you realize there are only 2 of everything else, you understand that everything that appears in the addends also has to appear in the sum, and there are enough zeroes to make that happen. There are no odd numbers available to do any kind of carry logic. It's actually probably easier for a second grader, who doesn't have a lot of experience carrying digits forward yet, so they see the obvious solution right away.

[smylesg]

The question should have stated, "using only this complete set of digits." Nothing in the problem statement prevents you from adding more digits.

[snowfloofcathug]

I really like the compliment to her for trying for an hour before asking for help. And I fully agree! Giving it a proper try *and* asking for help once you’re sure you need it are both amazing habits

[avpmobi]

I am 68 and just learnt what addend is. I have never heard that word before. I have o and a level maths. But the problem is not the maths it is the English. How about arrange the above digits to form a 1 digit, a 2 digit and 3 digit number which when added together make a number formed of the remaining digits.. Simple!!

[WillRennar]

Took me longer to figure out what the problem wanted me to do than to solve it.
It's asking for us to use those 9 digits to make a valid addition problem: 3 digits to make one of the addends, 2 to make another, 1 to make a 3rd, and then the last 3 to make the total.

Took me 5 minutes to work that out and 1 minute to come up with 600 + 20 + 8 = 628.

[kingoffongpei]

I get why people might be confused, but probably just because the wording and phrasing is rough for people who have been out of school for a long time and don't do math regularly. It took me a minute to see what the teacher's intent was but I think it's pretty fair for second graders who were just learning it in class that week.

[michaelz]

Solved it in 30 seconds in my head, but I harbor no illusions that it would be within reach of most second graders.

[jasonschubert]

The most difficult part of this problem was knowing what an "addend" was.

[nodroGnotlrahC]

It is most probable that the question was set as homework in order to reinforce the lesson taught in class that day. Before you help your child with their homework it is a good idea to ask them what they were taught, and to show you the relevant pages in their work books. This will often guide you towards the sort of answers required.

[mattdbower]

The problem didn’t state that you should only use the given digits, just that they must all be used, so adding extra terms would open up a huge number of additional solutions.

[etymonlegomenon]

Why are people acting like addend is such an obscure word that no student should even be *taught* it.

[niloc]

I am 58 UK born and I have never heard of or seen or even been told of the word addend before

[NeoXaeth]

200+60+8=268? You can also move the numbers around for at least 6 solutions.

[HienNguyenHMN]

Every time it's "student's math problem stumps parents" I guarantee it's something the teacher already explained in class but the student wasn't paying attention.

[angelhelp]

Guessing was never a permitted part of math classes, not even when estimation was taught. We had to learn the teacher’s way of solving problems and be able to duplicate it in any problem we encountered.

[JohnDlugosz]

"What's wrong?"
The meta-answer is to look at the child's curriculum.
"Decomposing parts of numbers using the positional system" is the key.