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!
Math is Figure-Out-Able!
#MathStratChat - May 8, 2024
In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on May 8, 2024.
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 mathers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able! I'm Pam Harris!
Kim 00:06
And I'm Kim Montague.
Pam 00:07
And this episode is a MathStratChat episode, where we chat about our math strategies. Every Wednesday evening, I throw out a mat problems on social media, and people from around the world chat about the strategies they use, and comment on each other's thinking. Kim, we have several people from India commenting. It's really...
Kim 00:22
Oh, that's fun.
Pam 00:23
Yeah, it's super fun.
Kim 00:24
Yeah, I really do like getting into. Mostly I do Twitter people. I don't know why because I'm never on Twitter. But it's fun. I like to scroll and see what people are doing.
Both Pam and Kim 00:35
(unclear).
Kim 00:35
Okay, so this Wednesday, the problem was five-sixth of 12. How would you solve this problem? Pause, solve it however you want. The problem was five-sixth of 12.
Pam 00:46
Bam. (unclear).
Kim 00:46
Do you want to go first?
Pam 00:49
Sure.
Kim 00:50
Okie doke.
Pam 00:51
Okay, so if I'm thinking about five-sixths of 12, I'm going to think about one-sixth of 12 first, and I'm thinking about a sixth of 12 by partitioning 12 into six equal groups. 12 divided by 6 is 2, so a sixth of 12 is 2, and I need 5 of them. So, 5 of those 2s would be 10. So, five-sixth of 12 is 10.
Kim 01:13
Yeah, I like it.
Pam 01:15
Alright, what are you thinking?
Kim 01:15
I decided to play a little bit. So, I know that five-sixth is five 1/6, so I decided to go three-sixths of 12 is half. So, that is half of 12, so that's six. So, since I already took care of three 1/6s, then I still have two 1/6 left.
Pam 01:38
Okay.
Kim 01:39
The same as a third. And I know that a third of 12 is 4, so 6 plus 4 is 10.
Pam 01:46
You playful person, you.
Kim 01:48
I don't know if it's like the most efficient, but.
Pam 01:50
That was kind of fine. Alright. I'm going to think about also the whole, six-sixth of 12, and then just get rid of that one-sixth. So, both of us... Or you didn't think about one-sixth of 12. I did. I thought about a sixth of 12 was 2. So, if the whole six-sixth is 12, and I get rid of one-sixth, then five-sixth of 12 is 10 minus 2... Or sorry. 12 minus 2, which is 10.
Kim 02:12
Nice.
Pam 02:13
Cool.
Kim 02:14
Okay, every week, we look forward to seeing what you are thinking in MathStratChat, so we hope that you'll join us and comment on other people's thinking.
Pam 02:22
We post the problems on Wednesdays at 7pm Central time. When you answer, tag me and use the hashtag MathStratChat. Then join us here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement, so thank you for making math more figure-out-able.