Printable math worksheet designed to help students practice solving real-world addition and subtraction problems.

Here is the complete solution to the worksheet, with explanations for each problem:

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Problem 1:
> 49 fourth graders, 35 fifth graders and 76 sixth graders showed up for soccer practice. How many students were there in total?

✔ Operation: (a) add
We are being asked for the *total* number of students. That means we need to combine all the groups.

Calculation:
49 + 35 + 76
= 84 + 76
= 160

✔ Answer: 160 students

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Problem 2:
> A large tanker truck can hold up to 11,256 gallons of oil. If the truck already contains 9,365 gallons of oil, how many more gallons of oil will be required to fill the tanker?

✔ Operation: (b) subtract
We are finding how much *more* is needed to reach the full capacity — that’s the difference between the total capacity and what’s already inside.

Calculation:
11,256 – 9,365 = 1,891

✔ Answer: 1,891 gallons of oil

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Problem 3:
> In the year 2014, 835,478 participants took part in the New York City Marathon. The race had 50,386 finishers. How many participants were unable to complete the marathon?

✔ Operation: (b) subtract
To find how many did *not* finish, subtract the number of finishers from the total participants.

Calculation:
835,478 – 50,386 = 785,092

✔ Answer: 785,092 participants

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Problem 4:
> In the 2015 Chicago Marathon, 20,144 male participants and 17,038 female participants completed the race. How many runners in all completed the marathon?

✔ Operation: (a) add
We want the *total* number of runners who finished — so we add males and females together.

Calculation:
20,144 + 17,038 = 37,182

✔ Answer: 37,182 runners

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Problem 5:
> The average weight of an Asian elephant is 11,950 pounds and that of an African elephant is 13,220 pounds. What is the difference in weight?

✔ Operation: (b) subtract
“Difference” means we subtract the smaller value from the larger one.

Calculation:
13,220 – 11,950 = 1,270

✔ Answer: 1,270 pounds

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✔ Final Answers Summary:

1. (a) add → 160 students
2. (b) subtract → 1,891 gallons of oil
3. (b) subtract → 785,092 participants
4. (a) add → 37,182 runners
5. (b) subtract → 1,270 pounds

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