Problem of the Week Nov 21st

Lower Elementary:

Question: Cranberries come in bags of 500. How many cranberries are in 12 bags?

Answer:  6,000 cranberries

Solution:  We can think of 500 as 5 hundreds. Five hundreds, 12 times is 60 hundreds, and 60 hundreds is 6,000. So, there are 6,000 cranberries in 12 bags.

Upper Elementary:

Question: There are 16 ounces to a pound. If one turkey weighs 14 pounds and 15 ounces and another turkey weighs 15 pounds and 2 ounces, what is the difference in their weights?

Answer:  3 ounces

Solution:  Fourteen pounds and 15 ounces is one ounce less than 15 pounds. Fifteen pounds and 2 ounces is 2 ounces more than 15 pounds. So, the difference is 1 + 2 = 3 ounces.

Middle School:

Question: Below is a shopping list of the ingredients for green bean casserole and their prices. Mrs. Brown goes to the grocery store and buys everything on the list with a 5% discount coupon. How much does she spend on the ingredients?

Green Beans - $3.11

Cream of Mushroom Soup - $1.66

Milk - $2.45

Onions - $1.34

Cheddar Cheese - $4.25

Corn Flakes - $3.79

Answer:  $15.77

Solution:  The sum of the prices of the items on the list is $16.60. Since Mrs. Brown gets a 5% discount, she only pays 95% of $16.60, which is $16.60 × 0.95 = $15.77.

Algebra and Up:

Question: Amelia can eat a whole pecan pie in 20 minutes. Benjamin can eat a whole pecan pie in 15 minutes. How long will it take them to finish a whole pecan pie together?

Answer:  8⁴/₇ minutes

Solution:  Amelia’s pie eating rate is 1 pie per 20 minutes, and Benjamin’s rate is 1 pie per 30 minutes, so their combined rate is 7 pies per 60 minutes. If they can eat 7 pies in 60 minutes, then they can eat 1 pie in 60 ÷ 7 = 8⁴/₇ minutes.

Thanks, check back next week for more!