Tricky Problem? Can you solve? And How?

[sweetshell]

How would you solve this? Mrs. Cope's class went on a field trip. They saw red birds and deer. They counted a total of 16 heads and 50 legs. How many red birds did they see? How many deer?

 

[pka]

How would you solve this? Mrs. Cope's class went on a field trip. They saw red birds and deer. They counted a total of 16 heads and 50 legs. How many red birds did they see? How many deer?

How many heads does an animal have?
How many legs does a bird have?
How many legs does a dear have?

Write a system of two equations in two unknowns.

 

[Deleted member 4993]

How would you solve this? Mrs. Cope's class went on a field trip. They saw red birds and deer. They counted a total of 16 heads and 50 legs. How many red birds did they see? How many deer?

If you do not want to use algebra - you can solve it by "educated" trial and error.

Total number of animals = 16

assume 8 birds and 8 deers → 48 legs

We need two more legs than that.

That means more deers than bird.

When replace 1 bird with 1 deer - how many more legs do you get?