Math is Figure-Out-Able!

Math teacher educator Pam Harris and her cohost Kim Montague answer the question: If not algorithms, then what? Join them for ~15-30 minutes every Tuesday as they cast their vision for mathematics education and give actionable items to help teachers teach math that is Figure-Out-Able. See www.MathisFigureOutAble.com for more great resources!

All Episodes

Math is Figure-Out-Able!

#MathStratChat - June 14, 2023

June 14, 2023 • Pam Harris

0:00 | 4:52

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on June 14, 2023.

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies.

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education

Want more? Check out the archive of all of our #MathStratChat posts!

Pam 00:00

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

Kim 00:06

And I'm Kim.

Pam 00:07

And this is a MathStratChat episode, where every Wednesday evening, I throw out a math problem on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, all the social media, and people from around the world chat about the strategies they use. We love seeing everyone's thinking.

Kim 00:21

Okay, so this Wednesday, our math problem was 18 is 24% of what? How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast, and solve it any way you want. The problem is 18 is 24% of what? Solve it, and then come on back to here how do we solve it?

Pam 00:40

Okay, Kim, I cannot wait to hear what you did, so go.

Kim 00:45

Okay. So, when I thought about 18 and 24. I know this is going to sound really strange. But I somehow just know that 18 is 3/4 of 24. So, if 18 is 3/4 of 24, then I also can think about, what is 3/4 of 100. And that would be 75. Maybe it's kind of like thinking about it in terms of like a ratio.

Pam 01:24

I think I should have done mine first, but okay, let's just chat briefly about how you know 18 is 75% of 24. Can you put words to that?

Kim 01:34

Well, I know half of 24 is 12, and 18 kind of falls in between those.

Pam 01:41

And another way we can think of that is there's three 6s in 18. So, there's three 6s in 18, and there's four 6s in 24. So, that's a 3 to 4 ratio or 75%. So, you're just saying that 18 is 24% of 75? Because 75 is 75% of 100.

Kim 02:03

Yes.

Pam 02:05

Ah, some days I hate you. I mean, really, that was cool. That was really cool. That is so not where my brain went yet. Yet. I want my brain to do that next time. I have access to that. I want my brain to do that.

Kim 02:18

You do.

Pam 02:18

Okay. Alright, cool. Alright, here's what I did. I drew percent bar, and I put 18 and 24% in the same spot at about a quarter of the way down the percent bar because 24% is about 25%, which is a quarter. And then, I thought to myself, "What can I scale from the 24% to get to something that then will scale nicely to 100? Can I divide 24% by something to get to something that could scale up?" And I thought, "Well, hey, I can divide it by 6." Because if I divide 24% by 6, then I get to 4%. And I can also divide that 18 nicely by 6. So, 18 divided by 6 is 3. So, now, I have 3 is corresponding to 4%. And if I scale 4% times 25 to get up to the 100%, then I would scale 3 times 25 to get to 75. So, that's how I found 18 is 24% of 75.

Kim 03:14

Nice. Hey, and I'll just comment that you really forced me to strengthen my work in scaling down to scale up. I think, because I taught elementary for so long, I was very used to starting with small chunks and building bigger, you know, with my students and probably just in my life. And so, the idea that you can scale down to make a grand sweeping scale up, I think is something that we probably need to all just be aware is out there. So, I enjoy your strategy.

Pam 03:52

Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And I'll keep working on yours. Alright, we can't wait to see your math strategy.

Kim 04:00

I wonder if it was like one of ours or something entirely different. Hey, represent your thinking, take a picture of your work. And then, would you comment on what other people were doing? People love to hear other people comment on their thinking.

Pam 04:13

Yeah, that's super fun, and it gets more people see it, the more we comment on it, so we can spread the word even better. While you're at it, if you tag me, then I can comment on your strategy as well. So, you can tag me @PWHarris on Twitter. Or Instagram Pam Harris_math. Or Math is Figure-Out-Able on Facebook. And use the hashtag MathStratChat. And make sure you check out our MathStratChat problem every Wednesday that we post around 7pm Central Time, and then come back here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. Ya'll, thank you for joining us as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Keep spreading the word that Math is Figure-Out-Able!