Step 1: Draw a box and write the number found after the word "than" (i.e. "?") in this box.
Step 2: Draw a dot at the top-right corner of the first box. This marks the starting point of the arrow we are about to draw next.
Step 3: Draw an arrow from the dot pointing to the right. (The arrow points to the right because it is a "more than" question.
Step 4: Since it is "more than", we are actually making the unknown value "?" (starting number) greater by 4. Hence, draw a second box directly below the arrow to show that the unknown value "?" has been lengthened by 4.
Step 5: Draw a last box to match the length of the first two boxes and write the number 21 in this box.
From the model,
21 - 4 = ?
21 - 4 = 17
Thus, the answer is 17.