Comments on: What I’m Trying To Say:

By: Bob Miller

Bob Miller — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:28:04 +0000

Using pennies as “standard” weights in an activity gathering (somewhat) linear data in an activity exploring Hooke’s Law, we discovered that not all pennies are created equal. We noticed that different teams were getting significantly different data and went back to our experimental design to determine the reason. We discovered that some pennies were heavier than others and after research discovered that the composition of copper pennies had changed. In mid 1982 the Lincoln penny changed from 3.11 g to 2.5 g. What a serendipitous event!

By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » What Can You Do With This: Yellow Lights

dy/dan » Blog Archive » What Can You Do With This: Yellow Lights — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:48:03 +0000

[…] traffic lights. Because I am often little more than a breathing apparatus and a set of limbs for whatever muse puts these ideas in front of me and I have to keep her […]

By: John Silletto

John Silletto — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:57:55 +0000

You might want to include the face in the shot so that they are certain that the bank robber is their teacher.

Maybe that would be better accomplished with a pre-lesson video of the robber running out of the bank.

By: John Silletto

John Silletto — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:54:23 +0000

This picture makes me envision a fairly sophisticated lesson on place value. The coin has a value in cents. The roll has a value in coins. The bag has a value in rolls.

The number 6731 represents 6 bags, 7 rolls, 3 coins, and 1 cent. Then I’d throw in some addition and subtraction and
for a challenge even multiplication.

I teach middle schoolers and I tire of watching students using long division to solve 350/10. Maybe by having the students work with a totally bizarre number system for a couple of days followed by a review of the base ten system they will come to a better appreciation of place value and the simplicity that comes for free with the base ten system.

Optionally – What is the greatest amount of money (in coins) that the robber can get away with without the bag breaking and leaving the money all over the parking lot? You’d probably have to use bogus weights for coin rolls to make the problem interesting

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:49:27 +0000

@Jinna, what can you do with this? @Tom, heh, nice.

By: The WCYDWT Fairy

The WCYDWT Fairy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:11:31 +0000

Rob the bank. Rob the bank. Rob the bank.

Explosives. Catapults. Russian roulette.

By: Jinna

Jinna — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:05:12 +0000

What does WCYDWT stand for?

By: Megan Wareham

Megan Wareham — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:54:20 +0000

I am a first time reader to your blog and am inspired by your picture. I have been searching long and hard for a new way to teach mathematics and you have shown me the way. I am interested to take this back to my fellow math teachers to see what ideas they can come up with. I am the proud keeper of a SMART board and a projector and apparently am doing it a disservice by not using more pictures and visuals.

This will be wonderful for my students, as we have just finished reviewing decimals. I believe I’ll be asking them of the possible combinations that can be in this bag if there is $100. Thank you!!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:52:43 +0000

Finding your blog I am inspired and wish that I had a WCYDWT fairy of my own. I see this picture and begin thinking of weight problems with my pre-algebra students. If pennies weigh…, nickels weigh…, dimes weigh…, and quarters weigh…, if have 2 pounds of coins what is the most money I can I have? I see this problem with variations for days. I love the idea of taking any old picture and finding things to do with it.

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:08:47 +0000

@Lee, wow, awesome idea. Tagging that.