Pam 00:00
Hey, fellow mathematicians! Welcome to the podcast where math is Figure-Out-Able! I'm Pam.
Kim 00:07
And I'm Kim.
Pam 00:08
And this is a MathStratChat episode where we throw out a math problem on social media every Wednesday, and then we chat about how people solve it all around the world. We love seeing everyone's thinking.
Kim 00:21
So, this past Wednesday, our math problem was 74 times 16. How did you solve this problem? Or if you haven't solved it yet, pause the podcast, solve the problem any way you want. The problem is 74 times 16. Solve it, and then come on back to hear how we're going to solve it.
Pam 00:37
Bam! Alright, I'm going to go first today. Because I got to be honest with you, I'm not thrilled with how I'm thinking about this. But I'm going to do it anyway, and see if I can make sense of it. So, I like thinking about 16 times things as 15 times that thing. I'm not sure it's the best way to go, but I'm going to see what I think. So, I'm going to say, I'm thinking about sixteen 74s. So, I'm going to think about ten 74s, that's 740. So, five 74s would be half of that. I have to think about half of 740, that would be 350. And 20 is 370. So, so far, I've got 10 of them and 5 of them. So, I'm going to put add those together to get 15. So, I'm going to add 700 and 300 to get 1,000. And 40 and 70 to get 110. So, that's 1,110. I'm only at 15 of them, but that's alright. I've got fifteen 74s is 1,110. So, I need one more 74. Wow, that's pretty slick. Once I have 1,110 plus 74, that's 1,184.
Kim 01:44
Nice.
Pam 01:44
Yeah, that wasn't too too bad. Okay. (unclear).
Kim 01:48
You know, you made me think about the commutative property there. And I don't... How often do I do that? Do I think about that a lot? I suppose I do. But I'm not (unclear). Yeah, I think it's nice.
Pam 01:58
You mean how I how I thought about sixteen 74s instead of the seventy-four 16s.
Kim 02:01
Yeah. I suspect I do It was just nice to think about something different.
Pam 02:05
So, are you going to think about seventy-four 16s this time?
Kim 02:08
Yeah.
Pam 02:09
Okay.
Kim 02:10
Yeah, so I'm going to think about 3/4 of 16. So, if it were 75 times 16, then I could think about 74. Sorry, 3/4 of 16, which is 12. So, 3/4 of 16 is 12. Which means then 75 times 16 would be 1,200.
Pam 02:35
Nice, yeah (unclear)
Kim 02:37
But that would be 75 times 16, and I only need seventy-four 16s, so I need one less 16. And I really do love when it's a problem like 1,200 minus something. 1,200 minus 16 because then I know it's just 1,184.
Pam 02:52
Did you just use the partner of 100?
Kim 02:54
Yeah, yeah.
Pam 02:55
Yeah, nice. And I don't know. On that 16, I would actually probably just back 10, back 6. Though, I could have used the partner. I could have. Yeah.
Kim 03:03
Very cool.
Pam 03:04
I like your strategy better for that one. That was nice.
Kim 03:06
Thank you.
Pam 03:06
So, that's part of the point. You're welcome. That's part of the point is that we can play with things and try things, and then find the one that for that day slides the easiest.
Kim 03:16
Yeah.
Pam 03:17
And when we own more relationships, and we have that possibility, and we're building our brains to reason more and more mathematically, sophisticatedly. And that is the point of mathematizing in math education.
Kim 03:29
Yeah. Well, and sometimes it has everything to do with what you're rattling around in your head in that day, right?
Pam 03:35
Absolutely.
Kim 03:35
I think we say that pretty often. Yep. Alright, so we can't wait to see what your strategy is. I wonder if it was like one of ours or something entirely different. Show us something new. Represent your thinking, take a picture of your work or screenshot your phone, and tell the world on social media. And while you're there, please check out what other people did and comment on their thinking.
Pam 03:54
Yeah, it's so much fun to read. And tag me on Twitter at @PWHarris. Instagram, Pam Harris_math. And on Facebook, Math is Figure-Out-Able. And make sure you use the hashtag MathStratChat. And check out the next MathStratChat problem that we'll post every Wednesday around 7pm Central Time, and then hop back here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. Let's keep spreading the word that Math is Figure-Out-Able!