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 15, 2024
In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on May 15, 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 00:01
Hey fellow mathers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able! I'm Pam.
Kim 00:06
And I'm Kim.
Pam 00:07
And you're listening to a MathStratChat episode, where we chat about our math strategies. Every Wednesday evening, I throw out a math problem on social media, and people from around the world chat and other strategies they use, and comment on each other's thinking.
Kim 00:20
So, this Wednesday, our problem was seven-eighths of 48. How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast. Solve it however you'd like. The problem is seven-eighths of 48.
Pam 00:31
Alright. So, Kim,
Kim 00:33
Yeah.
Pam 00:33
The last couple of weeks, we've had problems where we were figuring out a fraction of a number.
Kim 00:37
Yeah.
Pam 00:38
We're doing the same thing here today. One of the things that we want to encourage everybody to do is to not just do maybe what you were taught in sixth grade.
Kim 00:46
Yep.
Pam 00:46
Where you turn it into a fraction problem where it's seven-eighths times 48 over 1, 48 divided by 1, and then you multiply across. And I'll just point out for this one, in particular, 7 times 48? I mean, you can do it. You can do it. But why?
Kim 01:02
Yeah.
Pam 01:03
But why? Because then once you find 7 times 48, then you're going to have to divide it by 8. Bleh! Let's actually think. So, Kim, what are you thinking about first.
Kim 01:12
So, I was thinking about the whole, eight-eighths, and that would be 48. But I don't want eight-eighths, I only want seven-eighths, so I need to subtract one-eighth of 48, which is 6. So, I have 48 minus 6 is 42.
Pam 01:32
48 minus 6, 42. Sure enough. And if I use that same one-eight that you found, the one-eighth of 48. So, I'm thinking about partitioning 48 into 8 chunks, so I divide 48 by 8, that's 6. So, one-eighth is 46. But I need 7 of them, then I can think about 7 times that 6, 7 times one-eighth. 7 times 6 is also 42. Nice.
Kim 01:57
Very good.
Pam 02:03
Want me to go, Kim? We can't wait to see what you do each week. Join us on MathStratChat. And let us know how you think about the problems and comment on each other strategies.
Kim 02:13
And invite your friends to join us on MathStratChat. It's a super fun place to be. We post those problems on Wednesday at 7pm Central. And when you answer tag Pam, so she'll take a look at it, and use the hashtag MathStratChat. Then join us here to hear how we think about the problems. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement.
Pam 02:32
Ya'll, thank you for making Math more and more figure-out-able!