#MathStratChat - September 6, 2023

Pam  00:00

Hey, fellow mathematicians! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able. I'm Pam Harris.

Kim  00:05

And I'm Kim Montague. 

Pam  00:06

And this is a MathStratChat episode. What's MathStratChat? Every Wednesday evening, I throw out a math problem on social media, people from around the world chat about the strategies they use. And it's super to see everyone's thinking.

Kim  00:19

Okay, ya'll, our problem this past Wednesday was 4,370 divided by 230. How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast. Solve it. See if you can represent your thinking. The problem is 4,370 divided by 230. Solve it, and then come back to hear how we solve it.

Pam  00:40

Alright, I'm on it, Kim. Here we go. 

Kim  00:42

Yep.

Pam  00:42

I'm going to think about 230s. So, I've said 1 to 230 on a ratio table. 4,300, 2000... Or 2... I'm thinking of times 10, and that's not big enough, so... So, I didn't write down times 10. I could have. But I'm actually going to double. I'm going to double 230 to get 460. And that's going to help me then find twenty 230s. Because if I know 2 of them are 460, then 20 of them are 4,600. So, so far I've got twenty 230s. 4,600 is close to 4,370. That was our original dividend. So, I'm going to say, "How close?" Oh, and how nice. It is just 230. That took me a second to think about. So, I'm just one 230 Over at this point. So, if I subtract one 230. I'm going to say the answer is 19. Nineteen 230s. Yeah? Cool. Alright, what were you thinking?

Kim  01:45

The question that you asked yourself, the "How far away?" I don't know that we've talked about that a ton. It's a huge division question, right? "How far away am I?" I did something very, very similar, except for I started off by scaling down. So, instead of the problem 4,370 divided by 230, I wrote down 427 divided by 23.

Pam  02:09

437? 

Kim  02:10

Yeah.

Pam  02:11

Yeah. 

Kim  02:11

What did I say? 

Pam  02:12

You said 20.

Kim  02:13

Oh, well, okay. 437 divided by 23. And then, I did the same kind of Over. I said 460 divided by 23 is 20. But I was a little bit more than I needed to be by 23. So, then I could get rid of that one 23 To get to 19.

Pam  02:32

Nice. I'm kind of curious. Did you write... It sounded like you wrote that as kind of a fraction equation? 

Kim  02:41

I did, and I don't normally.

Pam  02:42

Not a ratio table. Yeah. 

Kim  02:43

Yeah. I don't know why. 

Pam  02:44

So, listeners, what that looks like is she wrote 437 "fraction bar" 23. So, 437/23 equals...I'm just guessing here, so tell me if I get it right...460 "fraction bar" 23. So, 460/23 minus 1/23.

Kim  03:02

Minus... Maybe I read it wrong. 23/23. Yeah, yeah, yeah. To get the one. Did I write that wrong?

Pam  03:08

I wrote it wrong. You're right. It would have to be 23/23. Sorry. And then, 23 minus 1. Duh. 

Kim  03:15

Yeah.

Pam  03:15

That was my bad. Yeah. Okay. 

Kim  03:17

Yeah, I did, and I don't normally write it that way, so I'm not sure. 

Pam  03:19

I can hear that. I can hear that as you're describing your thinking. I was like, "Huh. she wrote it like fractions." Nice. 

Kim  03:23

Very cool. Alright, ya'll, we can't wait to see your thinking. Really, really we want to see it. If you did a strategy like one of us or something else, it's super fun to read, so try to take a picture of your work and tell the world on social media. And while you're there, comment on what other people did.

Pam  03:39

Nice. And tag me on Twitter at @PWHarris. Instagram, PamHarris_math. Or Facebook, Pam Harris, author mathematics education. And use the hashtag MathStratChat. And make sure you check out our MathStratChat problems every Wednesday evening, and then pop back here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Let's keep spreading the word that Math is Figure-Out-Able!