Decimal Operations Problem Solving

What type of math activity do you most like to have your middle school math students work on?

For me, it's almost always been problem solving. This could include word problems that apply specific math concepts, word problems that incorporate a variety of math concepts, logic puzzles, or word problems that focus on problem solving strategies (create a table, make an organized list, find a pattern, work backwards, draw a picture, etc). I love using problems that have more than one correct solution, so students can share the thinking that leads to different answers.
 
Cooperative Groups
When we work on problem solving activities, I often have students work together, so they can model for each other and share/listen to each others' thinking and reasoning.

I wrote the "Party Planning" problem to give students practice with decimal operations and with solving problems with multiple solutions. To solve the problem, students worked with one or two partners to come up with combinations of foods that Reggie could buy for a party. To find their solutions, students needed to add decimals; multiply if they were going to include several of one item; and possibly subtract, if their total was over $50.

Student Conversation and Feedback
I loved listening to the kids' conversations as they worked on this problem. I heard comments like, "No one eats pretzels," or, "I'd choose candy and chips over pretzels," and so on.

The students had a few important questions for me, as they were pretty serious about this planning.
They asked: 
"Is this a "regular" party or like a sleep-over party, because the kind of food would depend on how long the party is." 
"How big is the container of ice cream?" 
"How big is the bag of candy?"

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