Mrs. traynor's class is taking a field trip to the zoo. the trip will cost $26 for each student. there are 22 students in her class.

i need to round each factor to estimate the total cost of the students' field trip. how though?

also, i need to use compatible numbers to estimate the total cost of the trip. then state what i think is the better estimate.

Well, estimate means to get like a general idea, or "in the ball park".
The factors include; the trip which is $26, and the ammount of students in the class, which is 22.
In order to estimate, you need to round.
$26 rounded becomes $30.
22 rounded becomes 20.
So now that we have the rounded numbers, we solve the problem. In order to find the total cost for all the students, we multiply the amount of students, by the ammount of money it costs per student.
The estimated version of this is: 20x30=600
This means that the estimated answer is $600 total.
Now do the same thing with the actual numbers.
22x26=572.
This means that the actual answer is $572.
The roumded total
Answer is $600.
You can say it is better use the actual numbers, and not estimate, because it is the actual answer.
I hope this helps you, im sorry for the long answer :)

Best answer that i found on yahoo ok   set :   x= length of 2nd piece in cm  x- 3= length of 1st piece in cm  x-4= length of 3rd piece in cm  then since you know they all came from the 20 cm ribbon you add them together and set them equal to 20x+ x-3 +x-4 = 20  3x - 7= 20  3x= 27  x= 9  the shortest piece is the third piece which is x- 4  x-4  9-4 = 5  the length of the smallest piece is 5 cm.  the other lengths are  9 cm  6 cm