Word Problem Preview: Sophie's Bicycle Ride
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By Clarence Thompson
Here is another word problem for adventurous kids and grown-ups to chew on. To solve it, remember our four problem-solving questions from last week:
- What do we already know?
- What questions are we trying to answer?
- Can we turn each question into an equation?
- Can we solve the equation to find the answer to each question?
Sophia gets a job at a store which pays her $10 an hour. The store is 6 miles away from her house. If she rides her bike to work, it takes half an hour to ride from her house to the store and half an hour to ride home after work. When she rides her bike, she can work 8 hours a day, five days a week. If instead she borrows her mom’s car and drives to work, she can work 9 hours a day, 5 days a week.
- How much extra money does the store pay her each week when she drives to work and works 9 hours a day?
Answer: _____________
- If her mom’s car burns 1 gallon of gas every time it travels 12 miles, and if 1 gallon of gas costs $4, how much money does she spend on gas every week?
Answer: _____________
- Let’s say that her mom makes her pay $5 a day for insurance every day that she drives. If a month has 4 weeks and she drives for the entire month without riding her bike to work, how much money does she pay her mom?
Answer: _____________
- If Sophia drives to work for an entire month, how much of the extra money in Question 1 does she get to keep?
Answer: _____________
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