A flower bed is in the shape of a rectangle. It measures 15 ft long and 12 ft wide. Chris wants to use mulch to cover the flower bed. The mulch is sold by the square yard. Use the facts to find the area of the flower bed in square yards.
First, we need to convert the dimensions of the flower bed from feet to yards since mulch is sold by the square yard.
To convert from feet to yards, we divide by 3 since 1 yard is equal to 3 feet.
Length of flower bed in yards = 15 ft / 3 ft/yard = 5 yards
Width of flower bed in yards = 12 ft / 3 ft/yard = 4 yards
Now, we find the area of the flower bed in square yards by multiplying the length and width in yards:
Area = Length x Width
Area = 5 yards x 4 yards
Area = 20 square yards
Therefore, Chris needs 20 square yards of mulch to cover the flower bed.