Final answer:
Meghan found a total of 34 pieces of sea glass over two days, first finding 15 pieces and then finding 19 the next day. Estimating, she found about 35 pieces, showing that the exact calculation is reasonable.
Step-by-step explanation:
Meghan found 15 pieces of sea glass on the first day. On the next day, she found 4 more pieces than the day before. To represent the number of pieces found on the second day, we use the expression (15 + 4). To find out the total number of pieces of sea glass Meghan found, we set up the following equation:
Total pieces = pieces on first day + pieces on second day
Total pieces = 15 + (15 + 4)
Total pieces = 15 + 19
Total pieces = 34
To estimate if this answer is reasonable, we can round the numbers and quickly add them up. If she found about 15 on the first day and roughly 20 on the second day, then she found about 35 pieces in total. Since our exact calculation gave us 34, which is very close to 35, our answer seems reasonable.