Question: Maria invited 4 of her friends over for a water balloon fight in the backyard. At the start of the game, Maria gave each of her friends 2 water balloons. She had one water balloon for herself.  Then her mom came out and gave each person 3 more balloons.  How many total balloons did the girls have?
Solve it. 
Answer: 
Maria's 4 friends started with 2 balloons * 4 = 8 balloons.
Maria started with 1 balloon + 8 balloons = 9 balloons to begin with.
Maria's mom came out and gave each girl 3 more balloons, which is 5 girls * 3 balloons = 15 balloons.
Total balloons used by the girls is 9 + 15 = 24 balloons.