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 - June 25, 2025
In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on June 25, 2025.
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
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Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education
Want more? Check out the archive of all of our #MathStratChat posts!
Pam 0:00
Hey, fellow mathers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able! I'm Pam Harris.
Kim 0:06
And I'm Kim Montague.
Pam 0:07
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 we love it because you comment on each other's thinking.
Kim 0:20
Okay, so
Kim 0:21
this Wednesday, our math problem was 16% of 125. How would you solve this problem? Pause. Solve however you want. The problem is 16% of 125.
Pam 0:33
Alright,
Pam 0:34
pick me. Okay, I'm goin to do... I'm going to use the commutative property, and I'm going to do 125% of 16.
Kim 0:41
Okay.
Pam 0:42
So, 100% of 16 is 16. And 25% of 16 is 4. Quarter of 16. And 16 and 4 is 20.
Kim 0:52
Very nice.
Pam 0:54
Thank you. Sorry.
Kim 0:56
Okay. No, it's okay.
Pam 0:58
I took the nice one.
Kim 1:01
So, it's, it's very similar, but I...
Pam 1:04
Oh! I just thought of a different one.
Kim 1:06
Okay, so you can wait till I go.
Pam 1:08
Okay.
Kim 1:11
So, I was thinking in terms of five-fourths of 16. Okay. And so four-fourths would be 16. And another fourth would be 4. So, then it would be 20.
Pam 1:25
Okay, nice.
Pam 1:26
So, neither of us really wanted to
Pam 1:27
find 16% of 125. We're both thinking about 125. I have another way of thinking about 125% of 16.
Kim 1:33
Okay.
Pam 1:34
What if instead we thought about 12.5% of 16?
Kim 1:39
Okay.
Pam 1:39
So, because 125, 12.5, that's just like a scale factor.
Kim 1:42
Mmhm.
Pam 1:43
And 12.5 is an eighth.
Kim 1:45
Mmhm.
Pam 1:46
So, an eighth of 16 is 2.
Kim 1:48
Mmhm.
Pam 1:49
But we don't need 12.5 percent. We need 125%. So, we have to scale that up to 20.
Kim 1:55
Nice.
Pam 1:56
Oh, I'm particularly happy about that one.
Kim 1:58
That's fantastic.
Pam 1:59
Makes me happy.
Kim 2:00
Love it.
Kim 2:01
Okay. Well, every week, we can't wait to get on social media and see what you guys do. Join us on MathStratChat and let us know how you think about the problems and comment on each other's strategies.
Pam 2:11
We'll
Pam 2:12
post the problems on Wednesdays around 7:00 p.m. Central. When answer, tag me and use the hashtag MathStratChat. Then join us here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. Thanks for being part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement! Math is Figure-Out-Able!