Word Problem Wednesday: A Slice of the Pie

Sep 9, 2020


Did you know that approximately $700 MILLION in pies are sold in grocery stores every year?  That doesn’t include those found in restaurants, food service or price clubs. And if you lined up the number of pies sold at U.S. grocery stores in one year, they would circle the globe — and then some!  Of course, we’re not surprised. Pie is one of our favorite foods too. Sure, it might have something to do with the fact that it is usually made in a pleasing ROUND shape, and when we slice into it, we can practice our skills with fractions. But sometimes that flaky, gooey, tasty goodness just hits the spot.

This week’s word problems are all about pie — and are enough to make any mouth drool!  So pull up a napkin, look below and choose a problem that’s the right skill level for your child. Have them give it a try. And when they feel they’ve found the answer, check their solution against ours.

Questions

Lower Elementary:
Question: Michael’s soccer team is having a bake sale. They bake 2 each of 3 kinds of pie, and then cut each pie into 8 slices. How many slices of pie can Michael’s soccer team sell at their bake sale?

Upper Elementary:
Question: Katie is comparing the prices of 4 different pies. A cherry pie costs $6.00. A chocolate cream pie costs $11.00. A blueberry pie costs $7.00. A peach pie costs the average price of all 4 of the pies. How much does the peach pie cost?

Middle School:
QuestionDaniel orders a pumpkin pie from a bakery. The pie costs $16.60. He tips the baker 15% rounded up to the next dollar. By how much money does Daniel round the tip?

Algebra and Up:
Question: Soren and his family share a lemon meringue pie that weighs 2 pounds. Soren takes a slice whose angle measures 40°. How much does the remaining pie weigh?

Did you know that approximately $700 MILLION in pies are sold in grocery stores every year?  That doesn’t include those found in restaurants, food service or price clubs. And if you lined up the number of pies sold at U.S. grocery stores in one year, they would circle the globe — and then some!  Of course, we’re not surprised. Pie is one of our favorite foods too. Sure, it might have something to do with the fact that it is usually made in a pleasing ROUND shape, and when we slice into it, we can practice our skills with fractions. But sometimes that flaky, gooey, tasty goodness just hits the spot.

This week’s word problems are all about pie — and are enough to make any mouth drool!  So pull up a napkin, look below and choose a problem that’s the right skill level for your child. Have them give it a try. And when they feel they’ve found the answer, check their solution against ours. 

Solutions

Excellent!  Are you ready to check your answer? Look below to see if your solution matches ours.

Lower Elementary:

Answer:  48 slices
Solution:  The team makes 2 × 3 = 6 pies. If each pie is cut into 8 slices, that’s 6 × 8 = 48 slices in total.

Upper Elementary:
Answer:  $8.00
Solution:  If the average of all 4 pies is the same as the price of the peach pie, then the average of the first 3 pies must be equal to the price of the peach pie. To find the average price of the pies, we add the prices of the first 3 pies together, and then divide by 3.
$6.00 + $11.00 + $7.00 = $24.00
$24.00 ÷ 3 = $8.00

Middle School:

Answer:  $0.51
Solution:  To find 15% of $16.60, we multiply $16.60 × 0.15 = $2.49. If Daniel rounds up to the next dollar, he will round by $3.00 – $2.49 = $0.51.

Algebra and Up:

Answer:  17/9 pounds
Solution:  After Soren takes a 40° slice, there are 320° of pie left. That’s 320 ÷ 360 = 8/9 of the pie, and 8/9 of 2 pounds is 17/9 pounds of pie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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