Question: A construction company employee ordered $10.87$ pounds of cement to fix some potholes and $44.1$ pounds of cement to build a sidewalk. How much cement did he order in all?
1. **State the problem:** We need to find the total amount of cement ordered by adding the two amounts together.
2. **Formula:** Total cement ordered = Amount for potholes + Amount for sidewalk
3. **Substitute the values:**
$$\text{Total} = 10.87 + 44.1$$
4. **Perform the addition:**
$$10.87 + 44.1 = 54.97$$
5. **Answer:** The employee ordered a total of $54.97$ pounds of cement.