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This is an example of an estimation and rounding problem. “There are a total of seven and one hundred seventy-two thousandths sacks of food. If each box holds four and sixty-nine thousandths sacks of food, how many boxes are there? Use decimal parts. Round your answer to the thousandths place.” |
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If we don’t know what to do we’ll look at hint one, which gives us a general overview of the problem in pictures. We also see that the word “each” means equal groups. And with equal groups we usually multiply or divide. |
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Hint two gives us more specific information. We see the relationship between the numbers and the pictures and that seven and one hundred seventy-two thousandths sacks of food is approximately seven sacks of food, with each box holding four and sixty-nine thousandths sacks of food. We can see that it is just a little more than four sacks of food. We also see that we have to divide. |
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If we need further help, we go to the final hint, which shows our answer of one and fifty four hundredths sacks of food in pictures and in a division problem. We can see how the problem was solved and rounded to the thousandths place. We can choose to repeat the problem for more practice, but even if we don’t, the problem will reappear later to insure mastery of the concepts. |
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When we repeat, we have the same question with different numbers and different pictures to represent the new problem. |
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Hint 1 is now different. |
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Hint 2 has different pictures. |
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Hint 3 also has different pictures with a different answer. |