Pam  00:00

Hey, fellow mathers! Welcome to the podcast where we actually believe math is figure-out-able. I'm Pam.

Kim  00:07

And I'm Kim. 

Pam  00:08

And this episode is 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 about the strategies they use, and comment on thinking. What is so funny?

Kim  00:21

I was just thinking that if anyone tries to listen to this on double time, they're  like, "No."

Pam  00:27

Somebody told me... No, somebody told me a week ago that they totally listened to us on double time, and I was like, "Wow! You think fast" because I often have people say to me, "Can you speak slower?" In fact, I actually had a speech guy once.

Kim  00:40

Yeah. 

Pam  00:40

What is that thing called? Toastmasters. I don't know if you ever heard of Toastmasters. Yeah, I had a Toastmaster guy listen to me speak once, and he goes, "You really could be a good speaker if you slowed down." I was like, "Oh, okay."

Kim  00:53

Yeah.

Pam  00:53

Yeah, anyway. So, yeah, good luck. Good luck listening to that that fast. Go for it. (unclear).

Kim  00:57

You were especially fast just now.

Pam  00:59

Bam!

Kim  00:59

Alright, this Wednesday, the math problem was 949 plus 493. How would you solve this problem? Pause. Solve however you want. Listen, you write these problems so long ago. It's not like we've been staring at them, right?

Pam  01:17

We have not been, no. No.

Kim  01:18

These are always a fresh look, so sometimes I'm also thinking (unclear),

Pam  01:23

I mean, we could be a little behind the scenes here. We actually write these problems... Golly. Like, say I wrote like 12 problems today. Then we give them to our graphics people, and they write, they create the graphics for MathStratChat, and then, I don't know, two or three months from now, we would actually record how we solve it, right?

Kim  01:41

Yeah. 

Pam  01:41

So, neither you or I have looked at them. We haven't thought about them for a very long time. 

Kim  01:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Pam  01:46

Here we are fresh. Alright, so the problem is. 

Kim  01:48

(unclear) 949 plus 493

Pam  01:52

People are all, "Yeah, we solved it already. You guys were talking so long."

Kim  01:56

Can I go first? Because I really love something here. 

Pam  01:59

Okay, go. 

Kim  02:00

Alright, the problem... Well, first of all. Write the problem correctly, Kim. 940... I'm struggling today. Okay (unclear).

Pam  02:10

Hey, I got my erasable pen, so I'm on it. 

Kim  02:12

The reason that I'm writing it is because what I want to do is rearrange a bit. 

Pam  02:19

I had a feeling you might 

Kim  02:20

Yeah.  So I rearranged the digits and kept the place values. So, I actually wrote down an equation of the expression 999 plus 443. So, I just swapped the tens there.

Pam  02:39

So, instead of 949.

Kim  02:41

Yeah. 

Pam  02:42

You said, "I'm going to take that 40, and I'm going to put it over. I'm going to give it to the 493." But the 493, you took the 90, and you gave it to the (unclear).

Kim  02:51

Yeah.

Pam  02:51

(unclear). 

Kim  02:52

Mmhm.

Pam  02:52

Okay. And so you ended up with 999 plus 443. Nice.

Kim  02:55

Yeah. And then, you know, I just stole 1 and made it 1,000 plus 442. Which is 1,442.

Pam  03:04

Sweet! I really like it, and I think maybe you might have chosen like the most efficient of those, but I'm also going to swap place values a little bit.

Kim  03:12

Oh, okay. 

Pam  03:13

So, that 949 I'm going to give away the 9. So, the 493 now becomes 499. And from that... Well, yeah. From the 493, I'm going to give that 3 back to the 940, so now it becomes 943 plus 499.

Kim  03:34

Yeah.

Pam  03:34

That's not as nice. So, that's like 942 plus 500. Yeah. So not as nice. I actually have to think about that. So, 942 plus 100 would be 1,042 plus 400 is 1,442.

Kim  03:52

Yeah.

Pam  03:52

I had to get over the 1,000 in order to add the other 400.

Kim  03:55

Yeah. 

Pam  03:56

Yeah. Oh, well. Okay cool. I'm looking at it, wondering if there was something better to do. But I'm not sure. 

Kim  04:03

I love that. Don't we wish all kids did that? All people would do that?

Pam  04:07

Like be able to swap those place (unclear)?

Kim  04:09

No. Would say, "I wonder if there was something else..." 

Pam  04:12

Oh, yeah.

Kim  04:12

Like, that mathematical behavior is so desirable. Okay, I did it, but I'm still thinking. I love that. (unclear)

Pam  04:18

Well, yeah. Because like right now, I'm wondering about like 440... No. 443 plus... No. I think the one you did was still the best to get to 999 because that just then just falls right out. Yeah. (unclear).

Kim  04:33

Alright. Well, we can't wait to see what you all do each week, so join us on MathStratChat and let us know how you think about the problem.

Pam  04:41

And when you're there, comment on each other's strategies. Ya'll, we post the problems on Wednesdays at 7pm Central time. When you answer, tag me, and use the hashtag MathStratChat. And then come 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 because Math is Figure-Out-Able!