Many of the Word Problems we solve don't require algebra. Some just require arithmetic, some can be solved with a little educated guessing. I understand the requirement to solve them in 4-parts can sometimes be frustrating. The reason is that the answer doesn't really matter. No one is dying to know the answer to any of the questions. What I'm interested in as a math teacher is that you can use algebra to model these situations, ask questions about the model, and answer those questions. What's cool is algebra can be used to reflect the real world. I'm most interested in your ability to cross between the real world (word problem situation) and the algebra world. Here is a little schematic I've made up so you can get a visual of the process.
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