Proportional Reasoning

Congratulations to the students who submitted their weekly blog math question on time yesterday.  Unfortunately there were six students that did not submit it on time and needed to complete it at recess.  Last week's question was an interesting one and there were mixed reviews.

Some students decided that both flowers grew the same amount since their height increased by 4 cm each.

Some thought flower #1 grew more while others concluded that the winner was flower #2.

The correct answer is that flower #1 grew more, and here is the reason why.  Since flower #1 started out at 8 cm and increased by 4 cm to reach 12 cm, its height increased by half (half of 8 is 4, 8+4 = 12).  Flower #2 started at 12 cm and increased by 4 cm to 16 cm, but that increase is one-third more (3 x 4=12).  In order to understand this concept, again we need to think about it multiplicatively, not additively.  This is a concept we will continue to work on all year.

Here is this week's question.  It is due on Tuesday December 1, 2015 at 8:10 AM.  Solve this question using the steps of problem solving.