MATH: Converting Within a System Portfolio
Mia is building a three-sided shelter for her action figures. The shelter will
resemble a rectangle with one of the long sides removed. She has boards that
measure 36 inches, 39 inches, and 42 inches in length; all the boards are the
same width. Mia will need to convert some of these measurements into other
imperial units to build the shelter the way she wants. Answer the following
questions. Show your work. Record your answers below.
Question 1
Mia will use one of these boards for the length of the shelter. She knows she wants
the length of the shelter to measure 3.25 feet. She will use a different board for the
width of the shelter. The width of the shelter will be shorter than the length.
Which board will Mia use for the length of the shelter, given that 1 foot = 12 inches?
What is the width of the shelter, measured in feet?
Mia needs to cut the third board to match the width of the shelter. How many feet of
board will she need to cut off the existing board to reach this goal?
To find the board Mia will use for the length of the shelter, we need to convert the length of the shelter from feet to inches. We know that 1 foot is equal to 12 inches.
Length of the shelter in inches = 3.25 feet * 12 inches/foot
Length of the shelter in inches = 39 inches
Now that we know the length of the shelter in inches, we can compare it to the lengths of the boards that Mia has.
The lengths of the boards are:
36 inches
39 inches
42 inches
Since the length of the shelter is 39 inches, Mia will use the board that is 39 inches in length.
Next, we need to find the width of the shelter in feet. Since the width is shorter than the length, we can choose any of the remaining boards.
Let's choose the board that is 36 inches in length for the width of the shelter.
Width of the shelter in feet = 36 inches / 12 inches/foot
Width of the shelter in feet = 3 feet
The width of the shelter is 3 feet.
To find how many feet of the board Mia needs to cut off to match the width of the shelter, we need to subtract the width of the shelter from the board length.
Amount of board to cut off in inches = 39 inches - 36 inches
Amount of board to cut off in inches = 3 inches
Now, we need to convert this to feet.
Amount of board to cut off in feet = 3 inches / 12 inches/foot
Amount of board to cut off in feet = 0.25 feet
Mia needs to cut off 0.25 feet of the existing board to match the width of the shelter.