Seth and Karen are college students who take on different jobs for income. Seth needs $750 for expenses and savings each month; Karen needs $700. Seth has a part-time job where he earns $7.50 per hour. He also mows lawns and earns $15 per lawn that he mows. His monthly earnings can be expressed with the equation 7.50x + 15y = 750, where x is the number of hours Seth works and y is the number of lawns he mows.

Karen has a part-time job babysitting, where she earns $6 per hour. She also walks dogs and earns $4 per dog that she walks. Her monthly earnings can be expressed with the equation 6x + 4y = 700, where x is the number of hours Karen works and y is the number of dogs she walks.

Before you begin, decide with your partner who will work with Seth's information and who will work with Karen's information.

Working with the Equations