Round Up or Down?

Free interactive math game: Round Up or Down? — Real-life rounding. Part of the Rounding category on MathKite.

Example problems

Taken from the generator that powers this exercise. A fresh set appears every time the page is opened, and the printable worksheet holds ten of them.

  1. A box holds 8 cookies. The bakery has 185 cookies. How many boxes are needed?
  2. A bag holds 8 apples. There are 70 apples. How many full bags?
  3. A box holds 4 eggs. You have 49 eggs. How many full boxes?
  4. A ribbon is 52 cm long. You cut it into 7 cm pieces. How many whole pieces?

About this exercise

Everyday situations where a division has a remainder and the context decides which way to round.

How to solve it

Divide, then ask what the leftover means. If everyone still has to fit, round up. If you can only take complete items, round down.

Worked example

45 pencils in packs of 4 gives 11.25, and the quarter pack still has to be bought, so the answer is 12.

Common mistake

Rounding by the usual under-five rule. Here the story decides, not the size of the remainder.