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 episode is a MathStratChat episode. What is MathStratChat? Well, every Wednesday evening, I throw out a math problem on social media, and people from around the world chat about the strategies they use. We love seeing everyone's thinking.

Kim  00:21

So, this Wednesday our problem was 49 plus 28. How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast, solve it however you want. It's 49 plus 28. Solve it, and then come back to here how we solved it.

Pam  00:34

Alright, Kim. I'm calling it. You go first.

Kim  00:36

Okay. Well, that's excellent because when I saw this problem, I thought about what you did last week when you were thinking about all the 12s (unclear).

Pam  00:47

When I thought a lot. Kind of slowly.

Kim  00:49

No, it's good. Okay. So, when I see 49 and 28, I see a 7 in both of those numbers. So, I was thinking about how this is seven 7s plus four 7s. Which is really nice because that means it's eleven 7s. And that's a nice problem. Eleven 7s is just 77.

Pam  01:08

Bam, how do you know... Oh, keep going.

Kim  01:11

Well, and I was going to say, I, once upon a time, heard you mention this factoring to add or subtract strategy. And I remember saying to you, "That is strange. Why would anybody ever do that?"

Pam  01:25

I think actually what you really said was, "No one would ever do that."

Kim  01:28

I think I might have. And we might have shared this before on a podcast. And it's super fun that, you know, when you see something like 49 and 28 and like the 7s just pop out, that it's something that is just a fun way to play. You know, there's lots of things you could do with this problem, but it was fun for me to just play with that one a little. And 11 times 7 is nice.

Pam  01:52

Nice. And, you know, sometimes teachers will say, "Hey, I'm working with kids on multiplication, but I have some kids that need to work on addition. What could I do?" Well, you can give problems like this. 49 plus 28, where you've got some kids that are playing with multiplication, and you've got some kids that are shoring up their addition strategies like I will do. So, Kim, I'll just use a plain Jane addition strategy. I kind of think about 49 plus 30. A little Over. 49 plus 30 would be 79. But I added a bit too much. I was supposed to add 28. I added 2 too much, so backup 2, and I get also 77. 

Kim  02:27

Nice. And there are some extra really nice strategies that can be used for this problem, so we are wondering what your strategy is. We can't wait to see it. Represent your thinking, take a picture of your work, or you can always screenshot on your phone. But please post it and share your work on social media. And while you're there, people love it when you comment on their thinking, so go ahead and do that too.

Pam  02:49

Yeah, we're building a Math is Figure-Out-Able universe where people are chatting about their strategies, and it's totally fun. When you do tag me on Twitter at @PWHarris. Or Instagram, Pam Harris_math. And at Facebook, Pam Harris, author mathematics education. Use the hashtag MathStratChat. And then, check out the next MathStratChat problem that we'll post every Wednesday around 7pm Central Time, and then come back here to hear what we're thinking about that problem. Ya'll, 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!