Assess the Joshua and Leah problem-solving strategies given below and respond to the following. What new information would complicate the answer in the initial post? What would change the dynamics of this problem?
Joshua post
For this week’s discussion, I decided to choose option 1, hanging lights around a window for a party, as I am doing something similar myself and working out the math I think would be beneficial. The first thing that I need to do is measure the windows that I would be hanging lights around, let’s say there are four windows of two different sizes. As the windows are squares I just need to find the perimeter that the lights will be hanging around so I just have to measure the length and width of each window to figure that out. The first size has a length of 4 feet and a height of 4.5 feet. Multiplying those together each window has a perimeter of 18 feet so we will already need at least 2 strands of lights. The next set of windows has a length of 1.75 feet and a height of 6 feet. We then do the same thing to find out that these windows have a perimeter of 10.5 feet. Adding all of these perimeters together we end up with 18+18+10.5+10.5= 57 feet. With just the perimeter in mind, it looks like I would want to only buy three strands of lights, however, as the windows are not directly next to each other I would want an extra strand overall so that each window will have a strand of lights around it. With this, I would want to buy 4 strands of lights (and maybe a fifth because I always worry that lights are going to go out).
Leah post
The problem I have chosen is the third option. I am updating my living room floor with a newer, more durable wood laminate. The cost is $1.50 per square foot. To find the cost of my new floor, I must find the area of my living room, in feet, and multiply the area by the price of each square foot, $1.50. To find the area of my living room, I must multiply the length by the width. If the length of my living room is 23 feet and the width of my living room is 24 feet, the area of the living room is 552 square feet. Then I multiply the area, 552 square feet, by $1.50 for each square foot, the price of my new wood laminate flooring will be $828.
