A large garbage bag holds 12 and one third12 1 3 pounds of leaves. Yesterday, you filled 3 and four fifths3 4 5 bags with leaves before lunch. How many pounds of leaves did you bag before lunch? If you filled another 8 and one fifth8 1 5 bags after lunch, how many pounds of leaves did you bag in all yesterday? Use pencil and paper. Describe in words two ways to solve this problem.
12 + 1/3 = 37/3
3 + 4/5 = 19/5
8 + 1/5 = 41/5
So....before lunch you bagged
(37/3)(19/5) = 703/15 lbs
And after lunch you bagged
(37/3) (41/5) = 1517/15 lbs
Adding these we get [703/15 + 1517/15] = 148 lbs
A second way to do it is to combine both procedures into one
(37/3) [ 703/15 + 1517/15] = (37/3) [ 2220 / 15] = 148 lbs