1. **State the problem:** We have three schools with students: School A has 615, School B has 735, and School C has 1035 students. We need to find the approximate total number of students and the difference between this approximate total and the exact total. 2. **Approximate each number:** We round each number to the nearest hundred for simplicity. - 615 rounds to 600 - 735 rounds to 700 - 1035 rounds to 1000 3. **Calculate the approximate total:** $$600 + 700 + 1000 = 2300$$ 4. **Calculate the exact total:** $$615 + 735 + 1035 = 2385$$ 5. **Find the difference between exact and approximate totals:** $$2385 - 2300 = 85$$ 6. **Summary:** The approximate total number of students is 2300, and the difference from the exact total of 2385 is 85 students.