Problem solving in the classroom is always a challenge for the kids and for the teacher.
The data that we'll be collecting from our Trek Across America will afford us with many situations where we can do some pretty pure problem solving. It was the kind that we had solved at the beginning of the school year, when we kept weather charts in the classroom. So far our problem solving has been pretty staid in the classroom. We've mostly used diagrams, squared paper, and sometimes manipulatives with numbers under 10. The kids had free reign of the classroom materials.