Page 892 - Algebra 1

Problem-Solving Strategies
Skills Bank Lesson 31
Sometimes it helps to draw a diagram when solving problems. Drawing a Diagram to Solve a Problem
A landscaper is designing a garden. It will have a rectangular flower border around a rectangular fountain. The flower border will be a 3-foot wide border. The water fountain is 7 feet long and 5 feet wide. What is the area of the border?
Understand
You need to find the area of the flower border surrounding the water fountain. • The flower border and the fountain are both rectangles.
• Fountain:7ft×5ft
• Border: 3 ft wide
Plan
Draw and label a diagram of the water fountain with the surrounding border. Subtract the area of the fountain from the entire area of
the garden.
Solve
Find the length and width of the garden. length: 3 ft + 7 ft + 3 ft = 13 ft
width: 3 ft + 5 ft + 3 ft = 11 ft Find the area of the garden.
A = lw 13 · 11 = 143 ft2
The area of the garden is 143 ft2.
Find the area of the flower border.
Subtract area of fountain from the area of the garden.
143ft2 -35ft2 =108ft2
Check
The area of the fountain and the border is equal to the area of the entire garden. 108ft2 +35ft2 =143ft2
Skills Bank Practice
a. Sajio is building a new rectangular deck around his rectangular pool. The pool is 40 feet long and 30 feet wide. The deck is 6 feet wide. What is the area of the deck?
Example
1
Flower border
3 ft
7 ft
5 ft
Fountain
Find the area of the fountain. A = lw 7 · 5 = 35 ft2
The area of the fountain is 35 ft2.
Skills Bank 877
SKILLS BANK