Math is Figure-Out-Able!

#MathStratChat - October 1, 2025

• Pam Harris, Kim Montague

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In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on October 1, 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

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education


Want more? Check out the archive of all of our #MathStratChat posts!

Pam  0:01  
Hey, fellow mathers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able. I'm Pam Harris.

Kim  0:07  
And I'm Kim Montague.

Pam  0:09  
And this is a MathStratChat episode because 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 each other's

Pam  0:19  
thinking.

Kim  0:20  
Okay, so this Wednesday, our math problem was 16 times 28 or 32 times 12. Which is larger? How would you solve the problem? Pause the podcast. Solve it however you'd like. The problem is which is larger? 16 times 28 or 32 times 12?

Pam  0:36  
Dun, dun, dun.

Kim  0:37  
You want to go, or you want me to go?

Pam  0:41  
I don't

Pam  0:41  
want to do either of these.

Kim  0:43  
Okay. That's a good sign that you want to play.

Pam  0:46  
I do want to play. 

Kim  0:47  
Okay, do you want to play for a second?

Pam  0:49  
Yeah. I'm not sure how long I want to play while people are listening.

Kim  0:51  
Okay, do you want me to go first? 

Pam  0:55  
Ooh.

Kim  0:56  
Or do you want to go? Ooh, that sounds like a good ooh.

Pam  0:58  
Well, so I just decided to play with Doubling and Halving. 

Kim  1:01  
Okay.

Pam  1:02  
But I didn't like where it was going with 16 times 28, so I Doubled and Halved with 32 times 12.

Kim  1:07  
Mmhm.

Pam  1:08  
I Halved and Doubled, and I got 16 times 24. And then I was like, "Wait a minute. 32 times 12 is equivalent to 16 times 24. And the other problem is 16 times 28. And the question is which one's larger? Bam, sixteen 28s is larger than sixteen 24s."

Kim  1:25  
Nice.

Pam  1:26  
Sweet. 

Kim  1:27  
So, I actually did the same but in a different way, different numbers. 

Pam  1:30  
Okay, what do you mean? 

Kim  1:31  
So, I saw the 16 and the 32 were like...

Pam  1:36  
Oh, between the two problems.

Kim  1:38  
Mmhm. 

Kim  1:38  
So I thought...

Pam  1:40  
Or, sorry, with... Yeah, between. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kim  1:42  
Yeah. 

Pam  1:42  
Keep going. 

Kim  1:42  
So, I said 16. 32 is double 16. 

Pam  1:45  
Okay. 

Kim  1:46  
And so, I asked myself what's the relationship between the 12 and the 28? And if they were equivalent, then the 12 would be 14. But that's not a 14, that's a 12. So, then the 32 times 12 must be smaller.

Pam  2:01  
Hmm.

Pam  2:01  
So, you look between the two problems, and I was within each of the two problems. That's very interesting because we call that one of the major things we want students to do in proportional reasoning.

Kim  2:12  
Yeah.

Pam  2:13  
In a proportion is to either look between like the two figures.

Kim  2:17  
Mmhm. 

Pam  2:17  
Or in each figure. That's really interesting. That's a nice connection. I like that! Yeah.

Kim  2:21  
Super fun. We love MathStratChat. Okay, well, we're excited to see what you do every week. Join us on MathStratChat and let us know how you think about these problems and comment on each other's strategies.

Pam  2:32  
Ya'll, we'll post the problems on Wednesdays around 7:00 p.m. Central. When you answer, tag me and use the hashtag MathStratChat. Then join us to hear how we're thinking about the problem. Ya'll, thanks for being part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement because Math is Figure-Out-Able!