Harriet counts 15 big boxes and 12 small boxes of notebooks. Each large box contains 189 notebooks, and each small box contains 79 notebooks. Estimate the total number of notebooks. Is your estimate an overestimate or an underestimate? Explain why it is better to have an overestimate than an underestimate.
(4 points)
To estimate the total number of notebooks, we can multiply the number of big boxes by the number of notebooks in each big box, and multiply the number of small boxes by the number of notebooks in each small box.
Number of notebooks in big boxes: 15 big boxes * 189 notebooks/big box = 2835 notebooks
Number of notebooks in small boxes: 12 small boxes * 79 notebooks/small box = 948 notebooks
Total number of notebooks: 2835 notebooks + 948 notebooks = 3783 notebooks
Therefore, the estimate for the total number of notebooks is 3783 notebooks.
This estimate is an overestimate because it is likely that there may be missing or damaged notebooks in some of the boxes. It is better to have an overestimate than an underestimate because an overestimate ensures that there will be enough notebooks for Harriet's needs. If there is an underestimate, Harriet may end up running out of notebooks when she needs them.