Solve the problem. Draw or use place-value blocks to help you.Taylor finds 23 shells at the beach. Her sister, Tessa, finds 18 shells. How many shells did they find in all?

Answer 1

To find the total number of shells that Taylor and Tessa found, we can add the number of shells that each of them found.

Taylor found 23 shells, and Tessa found 18 shells.

Let's add them together:

   23
+ 18
-----

We can add the numbers column by column, starting from the rightmost column (the units):

• Units column (right column):
  3 (from 23) + 8 (from 18) = 11.
  We write down 1 in the units place and carry over 1 to the next column.

• Tens column (left column):
  2 (from 23) + 1 (from carrying over) + 1 (from 18) = 4.

Now we combine the results:

   23
+ 18
-----
   41

So, the total number of shells they found together is 41 shells.

If needed, you can visualize this using place-value blocks:

• You would have 2 ten-blocks and 3 unit-blocks for Taylor,
• and 1 ten-block and 8 unit-blocks for Tessa.

When you combine them, you would have 4 ten-blocks (40) and 1 unit-block (1), totaling 41.