Jessica

middle (6th gr.)

1. The track and field area is 900 x 500 feet, including track and stands.
   
2. The grass is mowed twice a week.
   
3. 5,200 square feet of the sports area is not grass.

Problem: How many square feet of grass are mowed each week?

You said "The track and field area is 900 x 500 feet". Area is exactly the correct word. The area of a rectangle is the length times the width and the units are the units of the length times the units of the width. You have a rectangle of length 900 and width 500 so the area is 900 x 500 = 450 000. Both units are feet so the units of the area are feet x feet or square feet.

Thus the total ares is 450 000 square feet and the area of the sports area is 5 200 square feet. Hence the the area that is grass is the difference between these two numbers.