Question

Abby counts 12 large boxes and 18 small boxes of pencils in the supply cabinet. Each large box contains 144 pencils. Each small box contains 24 pencils.Estimate the total numbers of pencils. Is your estimate an overestimate or n underestimate? Explain why it might be better to have an underestimate rather than an overestimate.

Answer 1

The total number of pencils is 2,160. When estimating to the nearest hundredth one gets 2,200, which is an underestimate. 

The advantage of underestimating is that your answer is more accurate than an overestimate.