Community Garden Planning
Your school is planning a community garden to grow vegetables for the cafeteria. You need to help plan the garden layout, calculate materials needed, and determine the cost. This involves multiple math concepts working together!
Calculate area and perimeter for different vegetable plots
Determine soil, seeds, and fencing needed with total cost
Calculate expected yields and feeding capacity
The school has a rectangular area that's 24 feet long and 18 feet wide for the garden. You need to divide it into 4 equal rectangular plots for different vegetables. Each plot needs a 2-foot wide path around it for walking. Calculate the area of each vegetable plot.
Let's break this down: We have a 24 ft × 18 ft area, need 4 equal plots, with 2 ft paths around each plot.
If we arrange plots in a 2×2 grid, we need to account for paths between plots and around the edges.
• Total area: 24 × 18 = 432 square feet
• Path width: 2 feet
• Number of plots: 4 (arranged 2×2)
We need to subtract the path areas from the total area to find space for the plots.
• Horizontal paths: 2 paths × 2 ft × 18 ft = 72 sq ft
• Vertical paths: 2 paths × 2 ft × 24 ft = 96 sq ft
• Corner overlaps: 4 corners × 2 ft × 2 ft = 16 sq ft
• Total path area: 72 + 96 - 16 = 152 sq ft
Now we can find the area available for the 4 plots and divide by 4.
• Available for plots: 432 - 152 = 280 sq ft
• Area per plot: 280 ÷ 4 = 70 sq ft
Each vegetable plot will have an area of 70 square feet.
You need to calculate the total cost for the garden. Here are the costs: Soil costs $2.50 per square foot, seeds cost $0.75 per square foot, and fencing costs $8.00 per foot. The garden needs fencing around the entire perimeter plus the paths between plots.
We need soil for all 4 plots (280 sq ft total).
Soil cost = 280 sq ft × $2.50/sq ft = $700
Seeds are also needed for the plot areas.
Seed cost = 280 sq ft × $0.75/sq ft = $210
We need fencing around the perimeter and along the paths between plots.
• Perimeter: 2 × (24 + 18) = 84 feet
• Internal paths: 2 × 18 + 2 × 24 = 84 feet
• Total fencing: 84 + 84 = 168 feet
Now calculate the cost for all the fencing needed.
Fencing cost = 168 ft × $8.00/ft = $1,344
Add up all the costs to get the total project cost.
Total cost = $700 + $210 + $1,344 = $2,254
The total cost for the community garden project is $2,254.
The school cafeteria serves 150 students daily. Each student needs 0.25 pounds of vegetables per meal. If each square foot of garden produces 2.5 pounds of vegetables per season, will the garden produce enough vegetables for one season (90 days)?
Find out how many pounds of vegetables are needed per day.
Daily need = 150 students × 0.25 lbs/student = 37.5 lbs/day
Multiply daily need by the number of days in the season.
Season need = 37.5 lbs/day × 90 days = 3,375 lbs
Find out how much the garden can produce in one season.
Garden production = 280 sq ft × 2.5 lbs/sq ft = 700 lbs
Compare what's needed with what can be produced.
Need: 3,375 lbs
Production: 700 lbs
Shortage: 3,375 - 700 = 2,675 lbs
No, the garden will not produce enough vegetables. It will produce 700 lbs but the cafeteria needs 3,375 lbs, creating a shortage of 2,675 lbs. The garden would need to be about 4.8 times larger to meet the full need.
The school is organizing a bake sale fundraiser. They need to make 200 cookies. Each batch makes 24 cookies and requires 1.5 cups of flour. Flour costs $3.50 per 5-pound bag, and there are 18 cups of flour per bag. Calculate the total cost of flour needed.
A sports team needs to buy equipment. They need 15 basketballs at $25 each, 12 soccer balls at $18 each, and 8 volleyballs at $22 each. If they get a 10% discount on the total order, what is the final cost?
A class of 28 students is going on a field trip. The bus costs $150, and each student ticket costs $8.50. If the school has budgeted $400 for this trip, how much more money do they need?
You've learned how to break down complex problems into manageable steps and solve them systematically. This skill will help you tackle any multi-step problem you encounter!