Calculating Money Problems

Have you ever been on a plane? Did you know that some people actually jump out of planes? They are called skydivers! They have a parachute that they open to help them fall to the ground safely. And it is all done for fun!

Here comes Rowdy the Monkey to skydive with us to solve money problems. Let’s watch and learn from Rowdy and our skydiver friends!

Rowdy is so excited to skydive and solve money problems with you.

Here is our first skydiver!

Here she gooooes!

If the skydiver has 10 dimes and 2 quarters, how much money does she have?

Pull! Here comes the parachute and the answer.

10 dimes = 100¢ or $1.00, and 2 quarters = 50¢. We can count up to find the answer: 25¢, 50¢, 60¢, 70¢, 80¢, 90¢, 100¢, 110¢, 120¢, 130¢, 140¢, 150¢!

Remember, when we have a value over a dollar, we can use just the dollar sign and add the decimal. So, 150¢ = $1.50.

What a flight! Next up!

Our next skydiver is ready. Here he goes!

He has 4 dimes and 5 nickels. Would our skydiver have enough money to buy a snow cone that costs 65¢ when he lands?

Pull! Let’s glide into this answer.

First, we need to find the value of the coins the skydiver has. Let’s skip count by 10s and 5s: 10¢, 20¢, 30¢, 40¢, 45¢, 50¢, 55¢, 60¢, 65¢!

This is the exact amount the skydiver needs to buy a 65¢ snow cone when he lands! Impressive!

Our third skydiver is already out of the plane and gliding! She has $1! If she also buys a snow cone for 65¢, how much change would she get? Pull! Do you think you know the answer?

She would have 35¢ in change after buying the snow cone!
Subtract 65 cents from $1 or 100¢. 100¢ minus the 65¢ snow cone leaves 35¢ in change!

Way to solve money problems with the skydivers!

Here comes our next skydiver. What a daredevil! He is doing so many flips!

He wants to have a corn dog when he lands at the festival. Corn dogs cost $1.35. He has 6 quarters. Does he have enough money to buy a corn dog when he lands?

Let’s find the value of the money he has. We skip count by 25s: 25¢ + 25¢ + 25¢ + 25¢ + 25¢ + 25¢. This equals 150¢, or we can say $1.50. Since the corn dog is $1.35, he does have enough money. What a great treat when he lands!

Next up!

Our skydivers are jumping together to make a match!
Let’s see if we can match our skydivers’ parachutes.

We need to find the parachute that equals 183¢! Look closely. We can drop the cent sign and put in a $ sign and decimal point. Do you see the match? That’s right! 183 cents equals $1.83.

Can you find another?
We have 101 cents, and that has the same value as $1.01. Nice work!
We have our last match, 171 cents. That’s $1.71 to match its value!

Great job!

We are on our last flight. Look at the skydivers drop in!

Our last skydiver has 5 quarters and 3 dimes. How can we write that with a dollar sign and decimal point?

Let’s count up our coin values.

Remember, we start with the coins with the largest value. We have 5 quarters so we can count up: 25 cents, 50 cents, 75 cents, 100 cents, 125 cents. Now, we count up or skip count with our dimes: 135 cents, 145 cents, 155 cents. Our skydiver can write 155 cents as $1.55!

What a show!

Rowdy the Monkey enjoyed jumping out of planes with you! Let’s use all of the lessons we have learned from Rowdy and finish our problem-solving lesson!