Pet Shelter Comparison Stories

Multiply or divide to solve times-as-many stories.

Find the larger amount

Multiply to solve each comparison story.

The shelter has 7 cats. It has 4 times as many dogs as cats. Let d be the number of dogs.

d = 4 × 7, so d = dogs

A puppy weighs 6 pounds. A grown dog weighs 9 times as much as the puppy.

The grown dog weighs pounds.

Ana walked 8 dogs. Leo walked 3 times as many dogs as Ana. Which equation finds n, the number of dogs Leo walked?

A. n = 8 + 3B. 8 = 3 × nC. n = 3 × 8D. n = 8 − 3

A volunteer brings 12 bags of cat litter to the shelter. She brings 5 times as many towels as bags of litter.

She brings towels.

Find the smaller amount or how many times

Divide to solve each comparison story.

The shelter has 45 cans of cat food. That is 5 times as many as the number of bags of treats.

There are bags of treats.

A large dog bed costs $56. That is 8 times as much as a chew toy costs.

The chew toy costs $.

The shelter has 6 hamsters and 48 fish.

There are times as many fish as hamsters.

Match each story to the equation that solves it. The letter b stands for the unknown number.

Times as many or more than?

Decide whether each story compares by multiplying or by adding.

Sort each story by how you would solve it.

10.

The parrot at the shelter is 3 years old. The tortoise is 9 times as old as the parrot.

The tortoise is years old. That is years older than the parrot.

11.

Lena says, “The shelter has 20 dogs and 5 cats, so it has 15 times as many dogs as cats.” What is wrong with what Lena says?

A. Nothing. Lena is right.B. Lena subtracted. 20 ÷ 5 = 4, so there are 4 times as many dogs as cats.C. Lena should have added. There are 25 times as many dogs as cats.D. Lena should have multiplied. There are 100 times as many dogs as cats.

12.

Write a times-as-many story about the shelter that matches 7 × 5 = 35. Then tell what the 35 means in your story.