A farmer has two pieces of land. 20% of the first plot is planted with cotton and 40% of the second plot is planted with cotton. Can we calculate the percentage of the farmer's total land that is planted with cotton by adding 20% + 40%? Please explain your answer.
I am giving my students a test, and I was wondering on a scale of 1-10 how easy this problem was. 1 being easy, 10 being hard. Thank you! Also, I would like to see how different people go about answering this question! Thank you so much!
2006-12-10 09:19:45 · 12 answers · asked by Courtney Jane 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Please ignore my previous edit as I forgot I was talking to a teacher and that you weren't looking for an answer to the math question itself (at least I hope not). Please excuse me.
I'm guessing that this is 4th or 5th grade (?)
I am being hopeful for the ability of students in this world and would rate the question as written as a 3.
Since the answer is no perhaps you could follow it up with something like:
"If each plot of the farmer's land in the previous question is 10 acres in size, how many total acres does he have in cotton and what percentage of his total land is this?"
(Now while this would lead a sharp student to conclude that the answer to the previous question was no, hopefully he or she understood that already!)
I would say that was a 5-6 out of 10, going down for higher grades obviously. (If you had different sizes for the plots I would give that question a 9-10 for that grade group - perhaps a bonus question for the smart ones) . I would hope that by 8th grade most math students wouldnt struggle with it too much and it would be a 1-2.
2006-12-10 09:25:17 · answer #1 · answered by Scott R 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, it would depend on what grade you teach. If it was around 4th or 5th grade, it would be like a 9. If it was middle school it should be easier.
No, you cannot add 20% + 40% because there are two separate plots of land. Instead of 60/100 as a fraction, I would add the two plots to make it 60/200 and reduce that to a percentage, which I believe is 30%. Am I right? Because this kind of requires thinking...I'm in 8th grade. :) hopefully i got it right...
2006-12-10 09:28:17 · answer #2 · answered by rhcpafifan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the land percentage for cotton would be (20% + 40%)/2 since they are two seperate pieces of land (200%) and so you divide by two to get total percentage (this only works if both pieces of land is the same size. I would say this can be quite difficult, depending on the age of the people doing it, it could cause the people some difficulties as they do not know that both pieces of land is the same size
2006-12-10 09:25:14 · answer #3 · answered by Ryujin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Answer No. easyness 4 (this is a guess)
Explanation They cannot be the same piece of land so when you add the areas together the planted areas will get bigger but the unplanted areas will get even bigger so the percentage of the total area covered will have to be less than 40%.
2006-12-10 09:27:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
assume you mean and divide by 2
depends on the grade of the students. At 13/14 all students "should" be able to say no because you don't know the size of the plots. I guess 60-70% would get it right in a test.
2006-12-10 09:37:07 · answer #5 · answered by jewelking_2000 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are talking about two separate pieces of land - and we don't know how large each piece of land is - if we call the first section "apples" and the second section "oranges," we know we can't compare them - hens, we can't simply add the percentages.
There simply isn't enough information to solve this - so I would have to say, on a scale of one to ten, it's a ten.
2006-12-10 09:48:53 · answer #6 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well first you would have to assume that both of the pieces of land together equals 200%.If you were to add 20%+$40% , this would give you 60% but .........I'll get back to you on this.
2006-12-10 09:30:18 · answer #7 · answered by itscarolj 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was wondering the age, also.
As you can tell, some may miss the concept of "total" land being ALL the land, that is, 100% of it, both plots together.
May be an extra credit choice, depending on age.
2006-12-10 09:31:44 · answer #8 · answered by S. B. 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
opt for it! and it does take slightly of labor, as you are going to have got to plan what to do and find out how to reteach the fabric to the youngsters, and specially if this can be a unit they discover specially elaborate, you may also have got to reexplain it a host of methods. and also you might begin out charging for it, however dont cost an excessive amount of, perhaps round $10 an hour. speak to math lecturers within the fundamental college and allow them to recognize that you're inquisitive about tutoring in math and in the event that they recognize of anybody watching for a show, they may be able to touch you.
2016-09-03 08:50:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What grade level ?
First/second grade- 10, 9.
middle elementary perhaps a 4 or 5
Middle school and up 1
MBA-- 10
2006-12-10 09:25:06 · answer #10 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋