Hi James,

If I were to be solving this problem I would first convert all the dimensions to yards. There are 3 feet in a yard and 36 inches in a yard so 150 feet is $\large \frac{150}{3}$ yards, 50 feet is $\large \frac{50}{3}$ yards and 4 inches is $\large \frac{4}{36}$ yards. Thus the volume is

\[\frac{150}{3} \times \frac{50}{3} \times \frac{4}{36} = \frac{150 \times 50 \times 4}{3 \times 3 \times 36} = \frac{150 \times 50 \times 4}{324} \mbox{ cubic yards.}\]

To me this is a much better way to solve the problem. First of all the divisor should be 324 not 320 and secondly I don't have anything new to remember. I already know there are 3 feet in a yard and 36 inches in a yard and the 324 comes from a simple calculation rather than trying to remember yet one more conversion factor.

I hope this helps,
Penny