Making Connections
Julie Moore (English)
jmoore@greenriver.edu
Shelley Leavens (Mathmatics)
sleavens@greenriver.edu
Lisa Hoonan-Trujillo (Reading)
ltrujillo@greenriver.edu
Green River Community College
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Finding Major and Minor Ideas in Word Problems


  1. You are a manager at Home Depot. You’ve worked there for five years and love your staff. Furthermore, you have a family of three that you have to provide for. You earn $20/hour for the first 40 hrs. per week. This income allows you to pay your rent and basic monthly bills, but it isn’t enough to afford Christmas presents for your partner and child. However, you recently got the chance to earn extra money if you work overtime. You jump at the chance because you realize it will allow you to give your family a great Christmas. When you work overtime, you will be paid time and a half for anything over 40 hours. How much would you make if you worked a 55 hour work week?




  1. Jim is planning a 6-day, 5-night family vacation at Disney World with his wife Sue and their three children Michael, Megan, and Marissa. Jim and his family can stay in a 4-star hotel for $180 per night, a 3-star hotel for $110 per night or a 2-star hotel for $60 per night. They can get a direct roundtrip fight to Orlando for $220 per person or a fight with one stop for $183 per person. After talking with a friend who went to Disney World 2 months ago he knows that $1200 should cover the food for the trip. If Jim has $3000 saved for the trip and wants his family to have the best vacation possible, then what options should he choose for air travel and hotel?




3. Scott is 16 and has just bought his first car, a Ford Escort. He saved for several years to afford this car, and is excited to take it out and show it off to his friends. However, even though Scott could afford the cost of the car, he didn’t realize that he would also have to pay for its upkeep. As a result, he needs to first determine his monthly car expenses and then find a job that will allow him to pay for the car’s upkeep. First Scott determines his car expenses. His car insurance costs $120 a month. He pays $60 a month for gas. He has $20 extra car related costs each month. Once he has written this down, he begins to look for a job. Enumclaw doesn’t have very many job openings for high school students looking for part-time work, but luckily he is hired at a coffee stand for $7 an hour plus an average of $2 an hour in tips. How many hours would he need to work each week to pay for his car expenses?




4. Debbie is a jockey at Emerald Downs in Auburn. Her race seasons begin in April, and she has to make weight by that time or she won’t be eligible to ride. It is February, and she gained a bit of weight over Christmas. She has three months, which is 12 weeks, to lose the weight. It’s important that she makes weight because she’s been asked to race the leading horse at the track this year. Therefore, she’s very motivated to lose the weight this year. Her current weight is 127 pounds and she needs to get down to 115 pounds by race day. How many pounds does Debbie have to lose each week in order to race?




5. It’s June 2nd and 23- year-old Nina Carey has just decided to start college. She took several years off after high school to have her little boy, Tyler, but now she is ready to go back and pursue a teaching degree, which as been her life-long dream. In order to start her degree, she will take 15 credit hours at Green River Community College during the upcoming fall quarter. The college catalog indicated that tuition and fees are $30.00 per credit hour. She will also need books for each of her 3 classes. Her advisor told her to estimate about $100 per class for books. Currently Nina has no money saved, but she will start working next week for Starbucks, and she will earn $9 an hour at this job. Her boss is allowing her to work anywhere from 15 to 30 hours per week. She is currently living with her mother who will take care of Tyler while Nina is in school. Nina’s mom asks that she pay $100 a month to help with rent and household expenses. School starts in 12 weeks, and Nina is worried about having enough saved to be able to afford her first quarter. How many hours a week does she need to work to have enough money saved for college?




6. It’s the start of fall quarter and Nina has just managed to pay her school bills. Now her worries turn to having enough time to complete her school work. She wants to be a successful student. Nina will be in class 3 hour per day. She will spend 2 hours a day with her 2-yearl-old son Tyler, 1 hour a day commuting 30 miles roundtrip, and 4 hours a day studying. She will continue to work at Starbucks for $9 an hour, and she has the option of working anywhere from 15-30 hour per week. Also, Nina requires 7 hours of sleep each night to function at a high level. How many hours per week should Nina work at her job?