Representing Multi-Step Word Problems with Equations | 4th Grade Math

Understanding the Problem

• 📚 The problem involves a library book donation event where community members, a publishing company, and a local bookstore donate books.
• 🔢 We are given the number of books donated by each group: 145 from community members, 152 from a publishing company, and 200 from a local bookstore.
• 🗂️ All donated books are then divided equally onto seven shelves.

Finding the Total Number of Books

• ➕ To find the total number of books, we need to add the donations from all three sources: 145 + 152 + 200.
• 💡 The first step in solving this is to sum these quantities to get the grand total of books received by the library.

Determining Books Per Shelf

• ➗ Once the total number of books is calculated, this sum must be divided equally among the seven shelves.
• 🎯 The goal is to find 'B', the number of books on each shelf, by dividing the total books by 7.

Evaluating Equation Choices

• ❌ Choice A is incorrect because after summing the books, it multiplies by seven instead of dividing.
• ✅ Choice B correctly represents the problem by first summing all donations (145 + 152 + 200) and then dividing the total by seven.
• ⚠️ Choice C is incorrect because it subtracts the bookstore's donation instead of adding it, which misrepresents the scenario of receiving donations.