Real-Life Math -- Solution
You are a research coordinator designing an experiment for grad
students in the university genetics program.
1. If you let
each student conduct their own experiment, how many fruit flies and corn cobs
will you need?
There are 20 students. Each needs 120 fruit flies and
8 corn cobs.
20 x 120 flies = 2,400 flies
20
x 8 corn cobs = 160 corn cobs
You will need 2,400
flies and 160 corn cobs.
2. You decide to have the students
work in groups to reduce the number of supplies you will need. If you divide
the students so that there are no more than 3 people to a group, how many
fruit flies and corn cobs will you need?
20 / 3 =
6.66
You can have 6 groups of 3 people, and one
group of 2 people. That makes 7 groups.
Now calculate how many supplies
you will need.
Fruit flies = 120 per experiment
Corn
cobs = 8 per experiment
7 groups x 120 fruit flies = 840 fruit
flies
7 groups x 8 corn cobs = 56 corn cobs
You
will need only 840 fruit flies and 56 corn cobs if you put people into groups.