Prizes are to be awarded to the best pupils in each class of an elementary school. The number of students in each grade is shown in the table, and the school principal wants the number of prizes awarded in each grade to be proportional to the number of students. If there are twenty prizes, how many should go to fifth-grade students? Grade 1 2 3 4 5 Students 35 38 38 33 36

To determine how many prizes should be awarded to 5th-grade students, we need to set up the proportion of the number of 5th-grade students to the total number of students in the school. The total number of students is 35 + 38 + 38 + 33 + 36 = 180 students. To find the proportion of 5th-grade students, it would be 36/180 = 0.2. Since there are 20 prizes to be awarded, multiplying 0.2 by 20 gives us 4, which means 4 prizes should go to the 5th-grade students. Therefore, the correct answer is 4. Choice A (5) is incorrect as it does not align with the proportional distribution. Choice B (4) is the correct answer, as calculated. Choice C (7) is incorrect as it exceeds the total number of prizes available. Choice D (3) is incorrect as it does not match the proportional distribution based on the number of students.