Pam  0:00  
Hey, fellow math-ers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able.  I'm Pam.

Kim  0:06  
And I'm Kim.

Pam  0:07  
And this episode 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  0:19  
Okay, so this week, our math problem is 35 times 72. How would you think about this problem? Pause the podcast. Come on back to hear how we are thinking about 35 times 72.

Pam  0:32  
Alright, so I got all excited about the fact there was a 5 in 35.

Kim  0:38  
Yeah. 

Pam  0:39  
But it's funny, when I flexibly factored it into 7 times 5 times 2 times 36, I ended up with 10 times 7 times 36. So, then I abandoned that, and I doubled and halved instead. And I got 35 double to 70. And 72 halved is... And I got to the same place. I got 70 times 36 I thought that was kind of interesting. 

Kim  1:02  
Yeah.

Pam  1:02  
Both ways I ended up. So, then I thought, "Fine, I'll just do 7 times 36." So, I thought, I've got one 36, ten 36s is 360. Five 36s is 180 because half of 360. Then I got to add two 36s, which is 72. So, now I am adding 180 and 72, which is 152. But that's 7. That's seven 36s. So, seventy 36s would be 1,520. Is that right? You're doing your own strategy, huh? You weren't following.

Kim  1:37  
You said 1,000 something?

Pam  1:42  
Yeah, is that wrong?

Kim  1:43  
Mmhm.

Pam  1:44  
Oh.

Kim  1:45  
Well, let's let me say what I say.

Pam  1:47  
10, 5, 2. Oh, wait. I added wrong. 180 and 72 is 252, so it should be 2,520.

Kim  1:58  
There you go. 

Pam  1:58  
So close. 

Kim  1:59  
So, it's funny because I also was thinking about Flexible Factoring, and I had 5 times 7, times 8 times 9. And then I started to think about I wanted a 2 also. But I felt like I was going to have a lot of factors, so I wrote 35 times 72. I doubled and halved like you did, so I wrote down 70 times 36. Which was basically us pulling out a 2, right? And then I wrote 140 times 18. And then I double halved and got 280 times 9, which made me happy to stop there and do 280 times 10 to get 2,800. And then...

Pam  2:37  
Oh, nice.

Kim  2:38  
...back 280 for 2,520.

Pam  2:40  
Hey, let me tell you when you got to 5 times.. Sorry, can I? 

Kim  2:43  
Yeah, yeah.

Pam  2:44  
I got excited. When you got to 5 times 7 times 8 times 9, I wondered if you were going to do that 5 times 8 is 40, and then 7 times 9 is 63 because now you can just double 63, and then double again times 10.

Kim  3:02  
Double 63.

Pam  3:05  
So, like, find... Yeah. Anyway, I was kind of excited. That 5 times 8, I would not have thought to look for but I will now.

Kim  3:12  
Yeah, that's super fun. Well, you wanted a 5. Good for you.

Pam  3:15  
Whoo! Thanks for the 5.

Kim  3:17  
Alright. Well, we 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 while you're there, comment on everyone else's strategies. 

Pam  3:26  
We post the problems on Wednesdays at 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!