EarthDayMathActivities 1
EarthDayMathActivities 1
1. Mr. McAndrews wants to save money and do his part to help the environment
by reducing his family’s water use by one half. Using the information from the
chart below, fill in the missing numbers and answer the questions that follow.
__________ gallons
b. How many gallons of water would the McAndrews family save if they reduced
their showering by one quarter instead of one half?
___________ gallons
c. If the chart above represents one week of water usage for the McAndrews
family, how much water would they save in a year?
___________ gallons
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2. Create your own water usage table. Estimate how much water you use a day,
based on the averages in the chart below.
Activity National averages W ater Use (gallons)
________ gallons
b. Estimate how many gallons of water your family uses a day? Per week?
c. Name three ways you or your family could reduce your water usage.
i. ____________________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________________
iii. ____________________________________________________
d. Name three things MLK Middle School can do to reduce water usage.
i. ____________________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________________
iii. _____________________________________________________
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3. The!average!MLK!student!generates!four!pounds!of!garbage!per!day.!The!average!MLK!
student!also!weighs!140!pounds.!How!long!would!it!take!you!to!generate!your!weight!in!
garbage?!Write!an!equation!to!solve!this!problem.!
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4. Esi,!Barron,!and!Jhoan!want!to!start!an!environmental!club!at!MLK!Middle!School.!They!
decide!to!plant!six!new!flowers!in!the!courtyard!and!every!year!the!club!will!plant!six!
more!flowers.!Assuming!no!flowers!die,!how!many!years!will!it!take!for!54!flowers!to!
grow!in!the!courtyard?!
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5. Joshua,!Diego,!Tyra,!and!Samantha!each!plant!an!orange!tree!at!their!homes!so!they!can!
have!fresh!orange!juice!every!morning!before!school.!The!tree!takes!five!years!to!grow!
to!its!full!size.!Once!it!is!grown,!it!makes!15!new!oranges!every!year,!how!many!years!
will!it!be!until!they!each!have!grown!120!oranges?!!
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6. Jovaughn!wants!to!reduce!electricity!use!at!his!house!so!he!gives!up!watching!one!hour!
of!television!a!day.!If!his!monthly!average!electricity!bill!is!reduced!from!$130!to!$40.!
How!much!does!it!cost!to!watch!one!hour!of!television!each!day?!(Hint:'use'30'days'to'
be'the'length'of'a'month)!
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7. Nahom!and!Jada!decide!to!help!save!the!planet!by!taking!shorter!showers.!Nahom!takes!
fiveWminute!showers!and!pays!$1.25!a!gallon.!Jada!takes!sevenWminute!showers!and!pays!
$0.75!a!gallon.!Eight!gallons!of!water!are!used!per!minute!of!showering.!If!they!each!
shower!once!a!day!for!a!whole!week,!what!do!they!each!pay!per!week!to!shower?!Who!
pays!less?!!
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8. Create!your!own!word!problem!related!to!saving!the!Earth!!When'you'are'finished,'
trade'papers'with'a'classmate'and'have'them'solve'your'word'problem.!
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