The problem asks how many glasses and plates Mrs. Harrigan ordered altogether. Here's how we can break it down:

• Mrs. Harrigan ordered 30 boxes of glasses, and each box contains 16 glasses.

  • So, the total number of glasses is:
    $30 \times 16 = 480$

• She also ordered 30 boxes of plates, and each box contains 25 plates.

  • So, the total number of plates is:
    $30 \times 25 = 750$

Now, adding the total number of glasses and plates together:

$480 + 750 = 1230$

Therefore, Mrs. Harrigan ordered 1,230 glasses and plates altogether, not 310.

Would you like more details or have any questions?

Here are 5 questions to expand the concept:

1. How would the total change if Mrs. Harrigan ordered 50 boxes of glasses instead of 30?
2. What if each box of plates had 30 plates instead of 25? How would that affect the total?
3. If 10% of the glasses arrived broken, how many glasses were undamaged?
4. How would you calculate the total if the number of items in each box varied?
5. Can you express the total number of glasses and plates in terms of algebraic expressions?

Tip: Breaking down problems into smaller parts and multiplying in steps can simplify even larger calculations.