Question

Each child in the Smith family was given an orange cut into 8 equal sections. Each child ate 5/8 of the orange. After combining the leftover sections, Mrs. Smith noted that there were exactly 3 full orangesleft. How many children are in the Smith family?
The sample explanation for this question on 4th grade's practice book is not clear, Could anyone give a easier explanation for a 4th grader. Thanks.

Answer 1

Every child was given a orange cut into 8/8 pieces, Each child ate 5/8 pieces leaving 3/8 pieces each. How many kids were in their family. So each kid has 3/8 so you would add up 3/8 + 3/8 until you get a whole number of three. Or you can multiply the 3/8 by 8 or 8/1 (same thing) and get 24/8 slices which would simplify down to 3 full oranges, so there would be 8 kids because 8 x 3 = 24.