For example: "Jennifer bought a notebook and three pens for $7. If each pen costs $1.50, how much did the notebook cost?"
Solution:
To solve this problem, students must first assign a variable, such as "c" to represent the cost of the notebook. Then, they can write an equation that represents the total cost: c + 3(1.5) = 7.
c + 4.5 = 7
Isolate c by using inverse operation.
c + 4.5 = 7
c = 7 - 4.5
c = 2.5
Therefore, the cost of the notebook is $2.5.