Final answer:
To estimate Maria's total distance swam, add the distances from Saturday and Sunday. Maria swam a total of three miles.
Step-by-step explanation:
To estimate how many miles Maria swam in total, you need to add the distances she swam on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Maria swam 2 and 9/10 miles, and on Sunday, she swam 1 and 2/12 miles. To add these fractions together, you'll need to find a common denominator.
The common denominator for 10 and 12 is 60. So, multiplying 9/10 by 6/6 and 2/12 by 5/5, you get a total of 54/60 + 10/60 = 64/60.
Simplifying this fraction gives you 1 and 4/60, which can be further simplified to 1 and 1/15.
Therefore, Maria swam a total of 2 and 1/15 miles on Saturday and Sunday, which can be rounded to three and one-fifteenth miles. Since three and one-fifteenth is closer to three than four, the estimated total number of miles Maria swam is three miles.