Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 1; use with Overview

Ms. Salinas, who is in charge of sales for

Opportunity Company, knows that a certain job
will take 8 hours to complete. She estimates that
the company can do the job for $80.00.

The supervisor, who is paid $15 per hour, will start

the job, in order to plan and organize it.
Her assistant, who is paid $7 per hour, will take
over and complete the job when the supervisor
leaves.

Ms. Salinas needs to figure out how long each

person should work in order for the company's
costs to meet her estimate.

Let s equal the number of hours the supervisor works and let a equal the number of
hours the assistant works.

1. Write an equation to show the sum for the total hours worked.

2. Write an equation for the total cost of the job using the hourly pay for each person.

3. Together, these equations form a of in

two variables.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 1 of 2

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 1; use with Overview

4. What is a solution to a system of equations in two variables?

5. Ms. Salinas finds that the solution for her system of equations is the ordered pair (3,5).
Check the solution by evaluating each equation using this ordered pair.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 2 of 2

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 2; use with Exploring “Modeling with systems of equations”

1. Steps 1 and 2: Describe this situation in your own words. What are you being asked to
find? Specify the variables that will model this situation.

2. Step 3: Write equations that express these two facts.

3. Describe why this is referred to as a system of linear equations.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 1 of 2

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 2; use with Exploring “Modeling with systems of equations”

On their vacation, the Lupines stay at a resort

that has a rectangular swamp for a swimming
pool.

The swamp has a perimeter of 124 feet. The

length, l, of the swamp is 10 feet less than 5 times
its width, w.

You need to find the length and width of

the swamp.

4. Write a system with two equations and two unknowns to model this situation.

5. REINFORCE The sum of two numbers is 186. The difference between the same numbers is
32. Create a system of equations to model the situation.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 2 of 2

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 3; use with Exploring “Solving Systems with tables”

To begin solving this situation, you developed the following system of equations:

Let g = number of games rented, and

let m = number of movies rented.

g + m = 12
4.50g + 3.99m = 49.92

You are now ready for the next steps in solving the system of equations.

1. Step 4: Complete the table, and then use it to solve the system of equations.

g m 4.50g + 3.99m
0
1
g + m = 12
2
3
4
4.50g + 3.99m = 49.92
5
6
7
8
The solution to the 9
system of equations is 10
11
( , ).
12

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 1 of 4

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 3; use with Exploring “Solving Systems with tables”

2. Step 5: Check the solution by substituting the values into each equation in the system.

3. Step 6: Write the solution in a sentence.

On their vacation, the Lupines stay at a resort

that has a rectangular swamp for a swimming
pool.

The swamp has a perimeter of 124 feet.

The length, l, of the swamp is 10 feet less than

5 times its width, w.

You know you are trying to find the length and

width of the swamp.

4. When you let l = , and

w= , you have the equations:

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 2 of 4

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 3; use with Exploring “Solving Systems with tables”

5. Create a table to solve the system of equations.

6. How can you find the solution from the table?

7. Check your solution in both equations, and write your answer in a sentence.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 3 of 4

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 3; use with Exploring “Solving Systems with tables”

8. REINFORCE The sum of two numbers is 186. The difference between the same numbers is
32. Create a table to solve the system of equations and then check the solution.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 4 of 4

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 4; use with Exploring “Solving systems with graphs”

1. What are some disadvantages to solving a system using a table?

2. What system of equations is graphed here?

3. What is the solution to the system? Be sure to check

your solution.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 1 of 2

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Student: Class: Date:

Formulating and solving systems

Student Activity Sheet 4; use with Exploring “Solving systems with graphs”

4. Solve the following system of equations by graphing. Be sure to sketch your graph as well
as giving the solution.

1
y= x +1
2
y = -2x + 2

5. Solve the following system of equations by graphing. Be sure to sketch your graph as well
as giving the solution.

y = 2x + 3
4x - 2y = 8

6. REINFORCE The sum of two numbers is 186. The difference between the same numbers is
32. Solve the system of equations by graphing. Be sure to sketch your graph as well as giving
the solution.

Copyright 2014 Agile Mind, Inc. ® Page 2 of 2

Content copyright 2014 Charles A. Dana With space for student work
Center, The University of Texas at Austin