[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
PDF Elementary school version Middle school version High school version How Many Soda Combos Are There On A Coke Freestyle? How Many Chip Bags Will There Be? How Much Money IS That?! How Much Shorter Are Staggered Pipe Stacks? 101 Questions Andrew Gael Andrew Stadel Catherine Castillo Christina Tondevold Dan Meyer Dane…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend either reading this blog post or watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions).] For years I’ve been trying to find…
[This is one of a series of posts that explore real world examples of mathematical modeling to help educators better understand its applications. This is not intended to be a context for a student lesson. To learn about Spies and Analysts, I recommend watching this webinar (with elementary, middle, and high school versions) or reading…
Here’s a question to think about: if you can completely remove a problem’s context and still solve it, can it really be mathematical modeling?
Consider the math problem below from a middle school math textbook. It uses the context of a baseball diamond to discuss rational numbers. It is listed as a “Real-World Link” and demonstrating Math Practice 4 (notice the box in the upper right).
I was watching students work on this page and wondered how important the context was to solving these problems. Then it made me wonder, “What if there was no context? What would change?” This is what the problem might look like it the context was completely removed.
Many teachers reading the Standards for Mathematical Practice are confused by what “Model with Mathematics” (Math Practice 4) means. I define mathematical modeling as the process of taking an often real-world context, turning it into something you can manipulate with mathematics, and then returning to the context with the new knowledge. For example if you want…
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) emphasizes mathematical modeling, or “link[ing] classroom mathematics and statistics to everyday life, work, and decision-making” for all grade levels with Math Practice 4. Some content standards are easier than others to connect to everyday life, and often the more abstract the standard is, the more challenging it is to…
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PDF How To Use An Open Middle Problem Empowered Problem Solving Open Middle Math: Problems That Unlock Student Thinking Open Middle All Open Middle DOK matrices Problem-based lesson search engine – Find lessons more quickly by searching many websites for you. My lessons (elementary, middle, and high school) My lessons (elementary,…
How much money do you earn for 1,000,000 streams on Spotify? We begin this problem by thinking like a spy and figuring out what information we have and what information we need. Initially, students may not be aware of what information they know and what information they need to know. Having students…
How many ducklings are there? We begin this problem by thinking like a spy and figuring out what information we have and what information we need. Students might think that they just need the image below (there are much higher resolution versions you can print or project using the “Download Lesson Files”…
How many Hanukkah candles will we need? How many Hanukkah candles would we need if Hanukkah lasted 10 nights? 50 nights? n nights? We begin this problem by thinking like a spy and figuring out what information we have and what information we need. The video shows us that candles are being…
When will the winning Minecraft pickaxe finish? We begin this problem by thinking like a spy and figuring out what information we have and what information we need. The video shows us that there are six kinds of pickaxes competing in a race. Once the race starts the gold pickaxe takes an…
