Draw a line from each expression to the word problem it could represent.

\begin{tabular}{|c|}
\hline
[tex]$-12 \times 4$[/tex] \\
\hline
[tex]$12 \times 4$[/tex] \\
\hline
[tex]$12 \times (-4)$[/tex] \\
\hline
[tex]$-3 \times (-4)$[/tex] \\
\hline
[tex]$-12 \div 4$[/tex] \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

A. A football team loses a total of 12 yards in 4 plays. On average, how many yards did the team move per play?

B. The temperature of the ocean water dropped 4 degrees every hour. After 12 hours, what was the change in the water temperature?

C. A garden consists of 12 rose bushes in each of 4 rows. How many rose bushes does the garden have altogether?

D. Every second, a snail crawls 12 millimeters down a hole. How many millimeters will the snail have crawled after 4 seconds?

E. During a drought, a pond's fish population decreased by 3 for every meter drop in the pond's water level. At that rate, how many fish died once the water level dropped 4 meters?



Answer :

Let's match each expression with the appropriate word problem.

1. [tex]$\-12 \times 4$[/tex]

- The temperature of the ocean water dropped 4 degrees every hour. After 12 hours, what was the change in the water temperature?

Matching the expressions, the correct solution is [tex]\(-48\)[/tex]. This represents a total temperature decrease after 12 hours.

2. [tex]$12 \times 4$[/tex]

- A garden consists of 12 rose bushes in each of 4 rows. How many rose bushes does the garden have altogether?

The correct solution is [tex]\(48\)[/tex]. This represents the total number of rose bushes in the garden.

3. [tex]$12 \times -4$[/tex]

- Every second, a snail crawls 12 millimeters down a hole. How many millimeters will the snail have crawled after 4 seconds?

The correct solution is [tex]\(-48\)[/tex]. This represents the total distance the snail has crawled downwards after 4 seconds.

4. [tex]$-3 \times -4$[/tex]

- During a drought, a pond's fish population decreased by 3 for every meter drop in the pond's water level. At that rate, how many fish died once the water level dropped 4 meters?

The correct solution is [tex]\(12\)[/tex]. This represents the total number of fish lost.

5. [tex]$-12 \div 4$[/tex]

- A football team loses a total of 12 yards in 4 plays. On average, how many yards did the team move per play?

The correct solution is [tex]\(-3.0\)[/tex]. This represents the average yards lost per play.

Here are the matched pairs:

[tex]\[ \begin{array}{|c|c|} \hline \text{Expression} & \text{Word Problem} \\ \hline -12 \times 4 & \text{The temperature of the ocean water dropped 4 degrees every hour. After 12 hours, what was the change in the water temperature?} \\ \hline 12 \times 4 & \text{A garden consists of 12 rose bushes in each of 4 rows. How many rose bushes does the garden have altogether?} \\ \hline 12 \times -4 & \text{Every second, a snail crawls 12 millimeters down a hole. How many millimeters will the snail have crawled after 4 seconds?} \\ \hline -3 \times -4 & \text{During a drought, a pond's fish population decreased by 3 for every meter drop in the pond's water level. At that rate, how many fish died once the water level dropped 4 meters?} \\ \hline -12 \div 4 & \text{A football team loses a total of 12 yards in 4 plays. On average, how many yards did the team move per play?} \\ \hline \end{array} \][/tex]