Here are three quick match-day stories. For each one, decide in your head: would you add, subtract, multiply or divide to answer it?

• The hurling club has 248 members and 137 more join.
• There are 6 teams, and each team has 9 players.
• 45 sliotars are shared equally into 5 nets.

You don't have to work out the answers yet. Just say which operation each one needs, and which word in the story told you.

The interactive shows five hurling word problems, one at a time. Read the words first and decide which operation each one is calling for before any numbers are touched. On the comparison one, predict whether you will add or subtract before you work it out.

Signal words to keep in mind

• Add — altogether, in total, both, more join.
• Subtract — how many more, how many left, fewer, difference.
• Multiply — each, every, equal groups, rows of.
• Divide — shared equally, split equally, into equal groups.

Today we work through these match-day problems together, in this order, deciding the operation each time:

• 153 fans in one stand and 128 in another — how many fans altogether?
• Meath scored 31 points and Louth scored 24 — how many more did Meath score?
• 4 buses each carry 30 supporters — how many supporters in total?
• 36 jerseys shared equally among 6 players — how many each?

Before we touch the numbers, we name the signal words and choose add, subtract, multiply or divide. Then we build the number sentence and check it.

Then we try a two-step problem together: a stand has 8 rows with 40 seats in each row, and then 25 extra seats are added at the front. First we work out how many seats the rows hold, and only then do we deal with the extra 25.

Now a different kind of challenge: we are given some starter numbers and we choose our own operations to reach a target. Watch one first.

Reach 24 from 6, 4 and 20. Ask: which operation gets us close fast? 4 × 6 = 24 lands straight on it. There is often more than one route — 20 + 4 = 24 also works, using the 20 and the 4. So the same target can be reached two ways.

Now try these together:

• Reach 60 from 5, 12 and 8.
• Reach 100 from 3, 5, 7, 8 and 25 (optional stretch).
• Reach 150 from 6, 10, 25 and 5 (optional stretch).

See if you can find a second path to any target you reach.