Christina B. answered • 08/27/19
Experienced, Positive, and Effective Tutor with an M.Ed.
Drawing a model can help a lot with problems like this. Graph paper can be especially useful for visualizing the situation.
Start by drawing a line three units long, like a number line. Each unit on your paper will represent one foot. Put a dot one each end of the line. Each dot will represent a plant That's two plants. You could then put an additional dot at the corner of each square. Your three foot-long line has four dots (plants) on it.
Extend your line so that it is now four units long. Put a dot on the new endpoint of your line. You should find that there are five dots, representing five plants. How is the length of the line related to the number of plants that fit on it? The pattern is number of plants = length + 1.
Based on the pattern you have observed, if you drew a line 27 units long, how many dots spaced one unit apart do you think would fit on it?
Maria can only buy plants in multiples of 6. If she buys 4 flats of 6 plants, then she will have 24 plants. That is too few plants. If she buys 5 flats of 6 plants, she will have 30 plants. That will be enough plants, but she will have some left over.
To find out how many plants Maria has left over, subtract the number she will plant from the total number she will buy.
