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

Kim  0:07  
And I'm Kim.

Pam  0:08  
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 thinking.

Kim  0:20  
Okay, so

Kim  0:20  
this Wednesday our problem was four-fifths times one-eighth. How would you like to solve this problem? Pause, solve however you'd like, and then come on back. The problem is four-fifths times one-eighth.

Pam  0:32  
Bam. Let's think about that one.

Kim  0:34  
Mmhm.

Pam  0:34  
Alright.

Kim  0:34  
Why don't you...

Pam  0:38  
Well, I'm thinking maybe we should... Would you be willing to do... No. 

Kim  0:41  
Wow.

Pam  0:44  
Never mind. Okay, I'm alive today. I'm alive. Okay, four-fifths times one-eighth. I'm going to think about an eighth of four-fifths is a half of a half of four-fifths. 

Kim  0:52  
Okay.

Pam  0:53  
So, I'm thinking about a half of four-fifths is two-fifths. Because like a half of 4 anythings is 2 of those things. So, then a half of that would be a fourth of four-fifths. Oh, I just should have started there. Can I? Can you just... Wow, it's a day.

Kim  1:11  
You can do whatever you want. It's your problem.

Pam  1:14  
I'm going to start with a fourth of four-fifths. A fourth of four-fifths is just one-fifth. But I wanted an eighth, so I need a half of that. So, if I do a half of 4. So if I do a half of one-fifth, that's one-tenth. So, a half... Wow. An eighth of four-fifths is one-tenth.

Kim  1:30  
Okay.

Pam  1:31  
Okay.

Kim  1:31  
I like it. I like it. I like that you were thinking about a half though. Not because you needed it here, but it's like clear like you're thinking about the connection between eighths, and fourths, and halfs. Man,

Pam  1:44  
Yeah, and...

Kim  1:44  
keep building that in our students.

Pam  1:46  
And I like the fact that I just made the connection that if I'm going to find an eighth of 4, I could find a fourth of 4.

Kim  1:52  
Mmhm. Yeah.

Pam  1:54  
Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice.

Kim  1:56  
Okay. So, last time you said something about percents, so when I saw this one, of course, I was like four-fifths is 80%. And then I was like, 80%. 80%. If I want 80% of an eighth... And it's like 80% is an eighth. And I was thinking about a tenth.

Pam  2:21  
80% is... Did you say is an eighth?

Kim  2:24  
I did. For some reason, I wrote 80% next to four-fifths, and I was like, 80% times an eighth. 

Pam  2:30  
Okay.

Kim  2:31  
So, 80% times an eighth. I'm trying to decide how I knew that that would be a tenth. And I don't know how I knew that, to be honest with you.

Pam  2:43  
Well, I might be able to help. 

Kim  2:45  
Yeah.

Pam  2:45  
So, 80% I could write as 0.8, like eight-tenths. 

Kim  2:51  
Mmhm.

Pam  2:52  
And that's like 8. So, then I wrote 0.8 times one-eighth. And then I wrote eight-tenths times one-eighth. So, eight-tenths times one-eighth, we could rewrite as eight-eighths times one-tenth.

Kim  3:02  
Yeah.

Pam  3:04  
Huh. Well...

Kim  3:05  
I don't think that's how I was thinking about it, but...

Pam  3:09  
An eighth (unclear).

Kim  3:10  
I think I was thinking about...

Pam  3:11  
80% of an eighth.

Kim  3:11  
Yeah, I don't know how. I want to think about it some more. 

Pam  3:14  
Could you have been thinking about one-eighth of 80%? That's 10%. That's a tenth. 

Kim  3:21  
Maybe, maybe.

Pam  3:24  
I bet, I bet you were.

Kim  3:25  
I bet. Yeah.

Pam  3:26  
Eighth of 80%. Gah, I never would have thought of that.

Kim  3:29  
Yeah, because I wrote down a tenth right away, and I was like, "How do I know that?!"

Pam  3:32  
I was totally stuck on 80% of 0.125. But I think you were thinking about an eighth of 80% (unclear).

Kim  3:39  
I absolutely think you're right. Yeah. 

Pam  3:41  
Oh! okay, I'm on my brain to do that next time.

Kim  3:43  
Jiminy crickets. Okay. Well, enjoy our journey in mathematics. Can't wait to see what you do. Every week, join us on MathStratChat and let us know how you think about the problems. And, as always, we love when you comment on other people's thinking.

Pam  3:57  
Y'all, 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 here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Math is Figure-Out-Able.