Part Part Whole Word Problems
Help students truly understand part-part-whole relationships with these engaging word problems that build real number sense.
Part-part-whole thinking is at the heart of early addition and subtraction — when students understand that numbers can be broken into parts and put back together, they develop flexible, powerful number sense that supports them right through primary school. These Part Part Whole Word Problems give students meaningful, context-rich practice with this fundamental concept, building both fluency and deep understanding.
Students don't just practise computation — they think about number relationships, make sense of problem structures, and develop the reasoning skills that underpin everything in primary maths.
Why teachers love it:
- Builds number sense — students understand how numbers are composed and decomposed, not just how to compute
- Develops problem-solving strategies — students learn to identify the whole, the parts, and what's unknown
- Curriculum-aligned — directly supports Australian Curriculum number and algebra outcomes
- Scaffolded structure — word problems guide students through part-part-whole reasoning in accessible contexts
Perfect for:
- Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 addition and subtraction units
- Number sense and part-part-whole concept development
- Maths rotations and independent problem-solving tasks
- Small group instruction targeting number relationship understanding
- Daily maths warm-ups focused on number decomposition
What's included:
A set of printable Part Part Whole Word Problems that guide students through understanding and applying part-part-whole number relationships in real-world problem contexts — building the number sense that makes everything in maths easier.
When students truly understand how numbers fit together, everything else clicks into place — start building that understanding today!
SPECIFICATIONS
Format: PDF, set up for A4 paper. Exactly what's inside is listed above.
Editing: This download is not editable. The PDF is flattened to protect the design and the artists' work we license.
Printing: Open the file in a PDF reader and choose 'Fit to page' or 'Actual size'. Do a test page on plain paper first — card, colour and black-and-white all print well.
Licence: One classroom, one teacher. Please don't share, resell or post the file online; buy an extra licence for each colleague who wants their own copy.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
You'll need a PDF reader on your device — the free Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most reliable. Double-click the downloaded file to open it.
If a page shows on screen but won't print properly, open it in Acrobat Reader, choose Print → Advanced → tick 'Print as image'.
Stuck? Contact us and we'll sort it out.
OUR HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
We want you to love every Mrs Edgar resource. If something isn't right, contact us within 30 days and we'll make it right. Because this is a digital file we can't refund a download that has already been opened, but we will always help you get it working. See our Returns Policy.
FAQS
Where is my download?
Check your inbox (and junk folder) for the email from Mrs Edgar with your link. You can also log in to your account at mrsedgar.com.au and download it from your order.
It came as a ZIP file — how do I open it?
On a Mac, double-click it. On Windows, right-click and choose 'Extract All'. Your PDFs will be inside.
Can I print in colour or black and white?
Yes. Our resources are designed to work both ways; black-and-white versions look great on coloured card.
The download won't start on my school computer.
Some school networks block downloads. Try again at home, or right-click the link and choose 'Save link as'.
