Math is Figure-Out-Able!

#MathStratChat - July 1, 2026

• Scott Holmes

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0:00 | 3:59

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on July 1, 2026. 

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.

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Pam  0:00  
Hey, fellow math-ers! 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 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 each other's thinking.

Kim  0:22  
Okay, so this week our problem was 4 times 16 times 5. How would you think about this problem? Pause, solve it however you want, and then come on back. The problem is 4 times 16 times 5.

Pam  0:38  
So, Kim, I'm going to play just to play a little bit here. I think there's a more straightforward strategy, but I'm going to play a little bit. I now know, for whatever reason, that 6 times 14 is 64. I think it has to do with powers of 2.

Kim  0:52  
Wait, wait. What did you just say? I think you said 6 times something.

Pam  0:55  
Oh, I said 6, but I meant 4. Sorry. 4 times 14. 

Kim  0:57  
Yeah. 

Pam  0:58  
That 4 times 14 is 64. And I think it has to do with me thinking about powers of 2.

Kim  1:02  
Sure, yeah.

Pam  1:03  
So, then 64 times 5, I can think about 64 times 10 as 640, so 64 times 5 would be half as much of that. And half of 640 is 320. I just wanted to play a little. 

Kim  1:16  
Yeah.

Pam  1:16  
Okay. What do you got?

Kim  1:17  
Totally fair. I'm going to go with the straightforward and rearrange those factors. And I'm going to go 5 times 4 is 20 times 16. And I know 2 times 16 is 32, so 20 times 16 is 320.

Pam  1:33  
So, I'm just going to kind of step out of the problem a little bit and notice that when I said I was going to play around a little bit, I actually did what some people might think is the straightforward by multiplying 4 times 16 for like doing them in order.

Kim  1:44  
Yeah, yeah.

Pam  1:45  
And then you said you're going to do the straightforward one, which was not doing them in order. You used the communitive property to think about 4 times 5. That's interesting, right? Yeah, so it's just so interesting that once you get into math-ing, what's straightforward and what isn't? And so, Yeah, one of the reasons we're doing problems like this, we did last week and this week, is to get kids thinking about what order to multiply because there is this commutative property. They can multiply in any order. And hey, if there's a one that falls out, you might as well use that one. 

Kim  2:16  
Excellent. Alright, we can't wait to see what you do to solve these problems every week. Join us on MathStratChat, and let us know how you think about the problems, and then comment on each other's thinking.

Pam  2:26  
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. Thanks for being part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Math is Figure-Out-Able!