Student 1: I remember that a decimal is a number that is less than one!

Mentor: That's right, but -1 is less than one. Is it a decimal?

Student 1: No, so a decimal is between 0 and 1.

Mentor: That's very good. Can anyone think of an example of this?

Student 2: The number point-two-five [.25] is a decimal.

Mentor: Great example! Now does anyone remember what a mixed number is?

Student 3: I think it is like a number that has a whole number and a decimal in it. Like one-point-five [1.5] or something.

Mentor: You know this well!

Mentor: Now do you recall how to multiply decimals?

Student 4: It's like multiplying regular numbers only you have to add the decimal point when you're done.

Mentor: Good, do you remember how to determine where the decimal goes?

Student 4: I think that you count all the decimal places on the numbers that you multiplied together and that's how many places are in the answer.

Mentor: Right. So if I multiplied .25 by .1, how many decimal places would the final answer have?

Student 5: Three!

Mentor: Okay, so what is that result?

Student 5: Um, hang on... it's .025?

Mentor: Good. Now who can tell me how to multiply mixed numbers...

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