Question

Kathy counts 9 goats and sheep at the petting zoo. Her brother counts 4 goats. Write 2 ways you can find how many sheep there are.

Answer 1

1 way (without equation)

Kathy counts in total 9 goats and sheep at the petting zoo. Her brother counts 4 goats. Then if you subtract the amount of goats from the total amount, then you obtain the amount of sheep.

9-4=5 is the number of sheep at the petting zoo.

2 way (with equation)

Let x be the number of sheep at the petting zoo. If brother counts 4 goats, then the total number of animals is x+4. Kathy counts in total 9 goats and sheep at the petting zoo, then x+4=9.

Solve this equation:

x+4-4=9-4,

x=5.

3 way (with equation)

Let x be the number of sheep at the petting zoo. If total number of animals is 9, then the amount of goats can be found as 9-x. Brother counts 4 goats, then

9-x=4,

9-4=x,

x=5.

Answer: 5 sheep.