Answer the following question.
Mary has 5 green crayons and 8 blue crayons of different shades. If she gives out 3 green crayons and 1 blue crayon to Becky, how many crayons does she have left?
Step-by-step reasoning process: She had 5 + 8 = 13 crayons to start with. She gave out 3 + 1 = 4 crayons to Becky. She will have 13 - 4 = 9 crayons left.
The answer is 9.

Answer the following question.
Mac loves the shape of quarters and is willing to trade money for them, even if he loses value. He tells his brother that he will trade him 3 dimes for a quarter or 7 nickels. He trades for 20 quarters with dimes and 20 quarters with nickels. How many dollars did Mac lose?
Step-by-step reasoning process: Three dimes is equal to $.3 because 3 x .1 = .3. Seven nickels is equal to $.35 because 7 x .05 = .35. Each time he trades with dimes he lose $.05 because .3 - .25 = .05. Each time he traded with nickels he lost $.1 because .35 - .25 = .1. He lost $1 from trading with dimes because 20 x .05 = 1. He lost $2 from trading with nickels because 20 x .1 = 2. He lost $3 total because 1 + 2 = 3.
The answer is 3.

Answer the following question.
In a game, Samanta has 8 more points than Mark, and Mark has 50% more points than Eric. Eric has 6 points. How many points do Samanta, Mark, and Eric have in total?
Step-by-step reasoning process: Mark has 50 / 100 * 6 = 3 points more than Eric. So Mark has 6 + 3 = 9 points. That means Samanta has 9 + 8 = 17 points. So in total Samanta, Mark, and Eric have 6 + 9 + 17 = 32 points.
The answer is 32.

Answer the following question.
A four-layer pyramid is being built with each layer having three times as many sandstone blocks as the layer above it. The top layer is a single block. How many sandstone blocks are in the pyramid?
Step-by-step reasoning process: There are 1 * 3 = 3 blocks in the second layer. There are 3 * 3 = 9 blocks in the third layer. There are 9 * 3 = 27 blocks in the fourth layer. Thus, there are 1 + 3 + 9 + 27 = 40 sandstone blocks in the pyramid.
The answer is 40.