7th Grade Math

Use the Four-Step Plan

ICE CREAM Refer to the information on the previous page. How

much ice cream is consumed every year by Americans in the

north-central United States?

Understand You know that each American consumes 23.2 quarts

of ice cream and that Americans in the north-central

United States consume 18.5 quarts more. You need

to find how much ice cream is consumed in the

north-central United States.

Plan To find the total amount, add 23.2 and 18.5.

Estimate 20 + 20 = 40

Solve 23.2

+ 18.5 Line up the decimal points.

41.7 Add as with whole numbers.

Check for Reasonableness 41.7 ≈ 40 

So, 41.7 quarts of ice cream are consumed each year

by Americans in the north-central United States.

Check Check by subtracting. Since 41.7 - 23.2 = 18.5, the

answer is correct. 

a. SCHOOL The Fort Couch Middle School cafeteria has a special

lunch every Thursday. How much will you save by buying the

special on Thursday instead of getting each item separately on

any other day?

Chili $1.49 Salad $1.19

Chicken Fingers $1.39 Fruit $0.99

Hamburger $1.99 Tortilla Chips $1.29

Entreé Sides

All Drinks $0.99 Chili, Salad, and Drink $3.49

Thursday Special

b. GEOMETRY The courtyard at Eastmoor Middle School is shaped

like a rectangle that is 18.8 feet long. The width of the courtyard

is 4.8 feet less than the length. What is the total distance around

the courtyard?

The symbol ≈ means

is about equal to.

Lesson 1 A Plan for Problem Solving 5

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