Lesson 1

Lin is interested in how many of her classmates watch her favorite TV show, so she starts asking around at lunch. She gets the following responses:

• yes
• yes
• yes
• no
• no
• no
• no
• no
• no
• no
• yes
• no
• no
• no

If she asks one more person randomly in the cafeteria, do you think they will say “yes” or “no”? Explain your reasoning.

An engineer tests the strength of a new material by seeing how much weight it can hold before breaking. Previous tests have held these weights in pounds:

• 1,200
• 1,400
• 1,300
• 1,500
• 950
• 1,600
• 1,100

Do you think that this material will be able to hold more than 1,000 pounds in the next test? Explain your reasoning.

A company tests two new products to make sure they last for more than a year.

• Product 1 had 950 out of 1,000 test items last for more than a year.
• Product 2 had 150 out of 200 last for more than a year.

If you had to choose one of these two products to use for more than a year, which one is more likely to last? Explain your reasoning.

Put these numbers in order from least to greatest.

• \(\frac{1}{2}\)
• \(\frac{1}{3}\)
• \(\frac{2}{5}\)
• 0.6
• 0.3

A small staircase is made so that the horizontal piece of each step is 10 inches long and 25 inches wide. Each step is 5 inches above the previous one. What is the surface area of this staircase?