1. Plan for Problem Solving
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To find the total number of miles the Jacobson family traveled, add all the distances traveled each day.
About 700 miles
By making a four-step solving plan we want to estimate how many miles the family drove on their vacation. To use the four-step solving plan, we need to Understand, Plan, Solve, and Check our solution to the exercise.
We are given the number of miles the Jacobson family traveled each day while on vacation. We want to find the number miles they traveled all together.
Let M be the total number of miles the Jacobson family traveled. We will represent the number of miles they traveled each day in a table.
| Day | Miles traveled |
|---|---|
| 1 | 312.8 |
| 2 | 177.2 |
| 3 | 209 |
Adding these numbers, we can get the number of miles they traveled altogether. M= 312.8+177.2+209
About how many miles ...This means that we only need to make an estimate of the distance. Therefore, we round the answer to the nearest hundred miles. The Jacobson family traveled about 700 miles.
We will round the distances traveled each day to check our answer by estimation.
| Day | Miles traveled | Rounded Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 312.8 | 310 |
| 2 | 177.2 | 180 |
| 3 | 209 | 210 |
Rounding each number so that our addition is as easy as possible, we get a sum that equals our estimated solution. 310+180+210=700 Our estimated solution indicates that our solution is reasonable.