Consider the following problem: A farmer with 750 ft of fencing wants to enclose a rectangular area and then divide it into four pens with fencing parallel to one side of the rectangle. What is the largest possible total area of the four pens?

(a) Draw several diagrams illustrating the situation, some with shallow, wide pens and some with deep, narrow pens. Find the total areas of these configurations. Does it appear that there is a maximum area? If so, estimate it.