Mental Math, Fluency Objectives, and Context

This is (part 1 of 3 for) a presentation by Jim Olsen and Dan Van Wetering given 10/16/2009 at the ICTM (Ill. Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Conference in Peoria, IL.

Q: What do we want our students to be able to do?
75% of 80 =
(.75)(80)=
If the coat normally costs
$80 and it is on sale for 
25% off, what is the sale 
price of the coat?
If you have paint a 10' by 80' wall 
and one gallon of paint covers 
400 sq. feet, how many gallons of 
paint do you need?
If you drive 55 mph 
for 3.5 hours, how far 
did you travel?
If you drive 60 mph 
for 1.5 hours, how far 
did you travel?
You are making a stew with potatoes, carrots, and meat.  You use 3 pounds of potatoes at $1.04 per pound; 3 pounds of carrots at $1.20 per pound; and 2 pounds of meat for $3.60 per pound.  What is the average cost per pound of the stew?
You plan to buy carpeting for a 20' by 30' room.  How many square feet do you need to buy?  If the 
carpet costs $.70 per square foot, how much will the carpet cost?
5 × 7 × 8 × 2 =  
Estimate the sum:
694 + 708 + 699 + 696 + 707
http://www.nctm.org/fullstandards/document/chapter7/alg.asp
NCTM Algebra Standard