Mathnasium Wishes Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble gobble! It's Word Problem Wednesday AND Thanksgiving Eve, so we're celebrating with a word problem in tribute to the classic Thanksgiving staple. Solve our Turkey Day word problem and check after the video for the answer.

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?
Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

We teach subtraction by building on addition skills. We start with problems like this by teaching how to identify the gap between values - we ask "how far apart are these numbers?". When the gaps are small, adding up is a suitable method. This problem also subtly introduces the concept of grouping in units other than decimal 10 units; by using English/American measurement units where 16 ounces groups into 1 pound.

Let’s add-up to reach our target value of 15 pounds 2 ounces! Add-up in steps to each closest whole group. Starting from 14 pounds and 15 ounces + 1 ounce = 14 pounds 16 ounces = 15 pounds. Then 15 pounds + 2 ounces = 15 pounds 2 ounces. Hence, we’ve added up 1 ounce + 2 ounces = 3 ounces!

Solving this with subtraction is more involved but teaches regrouping in non-decimal 10 units.

Humm… we cannot take away 15 from 2. So, we need to borrow… er… regroup from the next highest place of the minuend. Regroup the minuend's 15 pounds into 14 pounds 16 ounces and rewrite the subtraction as:

Contact:
Ruby Yao and Benedict Zoe, Mathnasium of Fort Lee
201-969-6284 (WOW-MATH), fortlee@mathnasium.com
246 Main St. #A
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Happily serving communities of Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Fort Lee, Leonia, and Palisades Park.
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