Mixed Word Problems!
Mrs. Semmel is making holiday treats. She needs 5 cups of flour. She has 1 1/3 cups of flour. How much more flour does she need?
"How much more," indicates we are looking for a difference in what she needs and what she has. Subtract. Answer: 3 2/3. If you got it wrong, check to see that you borrowed. When you only have a fraction on the bottom, you can't just drop it down or you've not subtracted it!
Jennifer's family has to travel 78 1/5 miles to see her grandmother. They have already traveled 32 1/3 miles. How much farther do they have to go?
You need to subtract. "How much farther" indicated you were looking for the difference in how far they have to go and how far they had already gone. A difference is an answer to a subtraction problem! Answer: 45 13/15- If you subtracted and did not get it right, make sure you borrowed correctly!
Hannah counted 21 pieces of candy. She ate 4/7 of the candy. How much candy did she eat?
Multiply! Hannah ate 4/7 of the candy. She ate 4/7 OF 21 pieces of candy. We are asking, "What is 4/7 OF 21." Answer: 12
Casey has won ¾ of her hockey games. She has played 24 games. How many has she won?
Multiply! Casey won 3/4 of her games. 3/4 of 24 games. Answer: 18
Uh oh! You picked the trick square .... Guess Ms. K's favorite Taylor Swift Era.
Speak Now
A pot of chili holds 10 2/3 cups. Each portion is 1 1/3 cups. How many portions of chili does the big pot hold?
Divide! You are taking a total amount (10 2/3) and seeing how many 1 1/3 cups portions go into making up the 10 2/3. Don't forget to KCF! Answer: 8
Neo is making samples of one of her fashion designs. She has 14 yards of fabric. Each sample takes 2 ¼ yards of fabric. How many samples can she make?
Divide! The clue is you are taking a total amount (14 yards) and seeing how many 2 1/4 yards pieces Neo can cut from the 14 yards. Don't forget to KCF! The exact answer would be 6 2/9, but since you can't make 2/9 of a clothing sample, we would drop our remainder and final answer is 6. (Give yourself points if you got 6 2/9 just know that could be tricky with multiple choice!)
Lilli bought 18 yards of material to make chair cushions. She cut the material into pieces 3 ¾ yards long to make each cushion. How many cushions did Lilli make?
Divide! The clue is, you are taking a total amount (18 yards) and seeing how many 3 3/4 yards pieces Lilli can cut. Answer: 4
A group of Boy Scouts are cutting rope to prepare for their next rock climbing activity. They have 24 ft of rope, and each Boy Scout will need 3 1/5 ft of rope for his gear. How many Boy Scouts will get their rope?
Divide! You are starting with the total amount of 24 ft of rope, and you are seeing how many 3 1/5 feet pieces the Boy Scouts can cut from that. Don't forget 24 has to come first, and you have to KCF! Exact Answer: 7 1/2, but since no one wants to rock climb with 1/2 of a rope, we will drop our remainder and say 7. Give yourself points if you said 7 1/2, just know that might be tricky in multiple choice!
Ms. Keable had 18 lbs of oranges. She gave away 5/6 of the oranges. How much did she keep for her family?
Multiply. She gave away 5/6 of the oranges. We're asking, "What is 1/6 OF 18 lbs." Answer: 3 lbs
It took Brad 3/5 of an hour to drive from his house to Athens, Georgia. Brad drove another 3/4 of an hour to Auburn, Georgia. How long did Brad drive in all?
"In all" is a big clue to add! 27/20 of an hour or 1 7/20 (this is 1 hour and 21 minutes).
In Mr. Johnson's famous snack mix recipe, there are 6 cups that each have 2/3 cups of M&M's. In Mr. Bowler's recipe, there are 8 cups that each have 4/7 cups of M&M's. If they both made their recipes, how many cups of M&M's would they need to buy?
Multiply first! "each" tells us to multiply when we are building numbers up. After you multiply 6 times 2/3 and 8 times 4/7, add them together. Answer: 8 4/7 cups.