[1] There are two main values to science. The first is that mathematics is where we study numbers... and they appear everywhere in the world around us! We see whole numbers when we count, negative numbers when we are in debt (just look at the national debt!), fractions when we share things between people (think pizza, or chocolate bars, yum!), and decimals when we measure distances, lengths, areas, and sizes. In fact, numbers can be used to describe almost anything. Even color can be described as the amount of red, green, and blue light (the RGB system which is how computer screens work).
The second value to science is the thinking and ideas of mathematics. Mathematics is where we learn the ideas of distance and sizes (such as area and volume). It teaches us to ask, "How far?" or "How big?" These ideas are applied to study geography, biology, astronomy and more. We also learn to look for patterns. In math, these patterns are usually number or geometric patterns, but science applies this idea to discover patterns in the weather, agriculture, oceans, and more.
So, you want to use the equations x=y-44 and x+y=410 when x is Ann's score and y is Ruth's score. This is because x (Ann's score) is Ruth's score (y) but 44 less, so you subtract y-44 to get x. Then x+y would also have to equal 410 so that's the other equation. Graphing the 2 equations gets you to the point (183,227) in which Ann's score is 183 points and Ruth's score is 227 points.
