Sea Shells

A Maths Starter of The Day

Aaron and Nicole collect sea shells. Aaron began a holiday with 739 shells and Nicole began with 39 shells.

Sea shellEach day of the holiday Aaron found 32 shells and Nicole found 67 shells on the beach. By the end of the holidays they had the same number of shells in total.

How long was the holiday?

 

 

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Keywords: Starter | Algebra

  • The Best Maths Class Ever 7cd/M2, King Alfred's College Oxfordshire
  • Friday, May 15, 2009
  • "I felt that there was a good use of algebra in this starter. Most of the people in our class did not understand this starter. But the majority of us got there in the end."
  • Mr Bell, Holryrood
  • Thursday, May 21, 2009
  • "We here at holyrood thought it was cool fun but a few thought that it could be better if it was more challenging as the pupils enjoy this type of puzzle."

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Answer

Let the length of the holiday be x days.

At the end of the holiday Aaron had 739 + 32x

At the end of the holiday Nicole had 39 + 67x

39 + 67x = 739 + 32x

67x = 700 + 32x

35x = 700

x = 20

The holiday lasted twenty days.

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