#MathStratChat - September 2, 2026 Artwork

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!

All Episodes

Math is Figure-Out-Able!

#MathStratChat - September 2, 2026

September 02, 2026 • Scott Holmes

0:00 | 5:29

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on September 2, 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.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education

[00:00:01.140] - Pam
Hey, fellow math-ers. Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able. I'm Pam Harris.

[00:00:08.030] - Kim
And I'm Kim Montague.

[00:00:09.730] - Pam
And this episode is a MathStratChat episode where we chat about our math strategies. You might have noticed I just said that really slow because I talked to several people.

[00:00:19.010] - Kim
I heard.

[00:00:20.210] - Pam
At the last conference and they were like, you know, your ChatStrat, and I was like, it's MathStratChat. Anyway, it's not... I'm not frustrated. I think I might have just sounded frustrated. It was just like, maybe we should say it more clearly. You just heard me try it. Here we go. 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.

[00:00:42.110] - Kim
Okay, so this week the problem was if I can buy 8 pounds of sand for $3.50, how much sand can I get for $10.50? How would you solve this problem? Pause the podcast, solve it however you'd like, and then come on back. The problem is if I can buy 8 pounds of sand for $3.50, how much sand can I get for $10.50?

[00:01:05.250] - Kim
Bam! Sand. Sand. Why are we buying sand?

[00:01:09.520] - Pam
We're buying it. We're building a sandbox. We have a cat. We have kids. We have grandkids.

[00:01:15.520] - Kim
You know what? I actually did buy that kinetic sand when my kids were little.

[00:01:19.940] - Pam
Was it good? Was it worth it?

[00:01:21.530] - Kim
Um... Mmm...

[00:01:23.300] - Pam
Ha. Okay, good to know.

[00:01:24.510] - Kim
Outside, outside. It's really cool, but it's an outside activity.

[00:01:28.880] - Pam
Okay say something.

[00:01:29.870] - Kim
Hello. Hello.

[00:01:31.580] - Pam
Okay. Alright. So, you said something about outside, outside. You finished what you said, yes?

[00:01:36.080] - Kim
Yeah, mmhm.

[00:01:36.730] - Pam
Okay. Alright. So, we'll just dive in and...

[00:01:39.150] - Kim
Yep.

[00:01:41.070] - Pam
Alright, Kim. Let's buy some sand.

[00:01:43.170] - Kim
Okay. You want to go first or do you want me to?

[00:01:46.340] - Pam
I will.

[00:01:46.770] - Kim
Okay.

[00:01:47.710] - Pam
Okay. So, I am writing down $3.50 to 8. And I wrote that like $3.50 "fraction bar" 8. And then I'm thinking about trying to get that $3.50 up to the $10.50.

[00:02:06.020] - Kim
Mmhm.

[00:02:06.200] - Pam
So. Because I know $3.50 will buy me 8 pounds. And if I can get that $3.50 up to $10.50, then I can scale up the 8 pounds as well.

[00:02:13.820] - Kim
Yep.

[00:02:14.340] - Pam
So, I'm just going to go ahead and double. So, for $7.00, I can get 16 pounds of sand, and now I have $3.50 and $7.00. If I add those together, I get $10.50. And I add the 8 pounds and the 16 pounds, and I get 24 pounds of sand. What do you think?

[00:02:32.250] - Kim
Nice.

[00:02:32.950] - Pam
Bam. Alright.

[00:02:33.610] - Kim
You know what? It's funny that you said you did $3.50 "fraction bar" 8.

[00:02:39.010] - Pam
Yeah.

[00:02:39.550] - Kim
Because I started to write 8 "fraction bar" $3.50.

[00:02:43.630] - Pam
Oh, interesting.

[00:02:44.350] - Kim
Yeah. But then I looked at the dollar amounts. And I don't know why, but for some reason I know that there are three $3.50s in $10.50, so at that point when I was like, "Oh, I'm going to scale by 3," then I just thought about 8 pounds times 3 is 24 pounds.

[00:03:03.310] - Pam
You know that there's three $3.50s in $10.50?

[00:03:06.520] - Kim
Yeah.

[00:03:06.680] - Pam
Okay, I don't know that yet. Yet. Yet.

[00:03:10.780] - Kim
Yeah. Well, I mean, you know it, but maybe it's not... Like, maybe doesn't come to your mind as much quickly.

[00:03:15.870] - Pam
Yeah, it just didn't spring to mind.

[00:03:18.090] - Kim
Yeah, yeah. (unclear).

[00:03:18.430] - Pam
Yeah, that $10.50, I thought I could double to get to $7.00, and then I could see what's left over. Oh, yeah, it's $3.50. How handy. Yeah. It went much quicker in my head than... Anyway.

[00:03:28.750] - Kim
Yeah, yeah.

[00:03:29.210] - Pam
Nice.

[00:03:29.590] - Kim
Alright. Well, we love when you participate in MathStratChat, and we can't wait to see what you do each week. Join us and let us know how you think about the problems and comment on each other's strategies.

[00:03:41.200] - Pam
Y'all, we 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. Y'all, we love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Math is Figure-Out-Able!