Comments on: Shoulda Woulda Coulda /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/ less helpful Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:29:26 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » Better Online Math /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-565510 Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:29:26 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-565510 […] every student to take and submit a photo of stairs before you show your own photo and explain how we can figure out which is […]

]]> By: Steepness and slope | Algebra One Blog /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-485322 Sun, 05 Aug 2012 04:23:18 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-485322 […] is this post by Dan Meyer: Tonight’s homework: Find some stairs. Calculate their slope. Describe how […]

]]> By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » [3ACTS] May 2012 Tasks /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-426008 Tue, 01 May 2012 18:25:51 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-426008 […] would run all year. I'd put a bounty on the best coin from around the world. (Something like the slope challenge.) "You found some saucer-sized coin from some obscure island with very favorable exchange rates? […]

]]> By: Steepest Stairs and Wacky Measurements « The Roots of the Equation /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-377026 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:17:43 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-377026 […] reading Dan Meyer’s post mentioning a Steepest/Shallowest stairs contest, I decided to go for it. But Dan had them do it for homework after they knew what slope was. I […]

]]> By: Angie B /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-363083 Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:42:52 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-363083 I’ve been behind on my Reader, but I love that I’m reading this two days after my 4th grade son asked me who had a better chance of winning a game of battle ship if someone just placed the destroyer (2 peg) and played against someone who places all of their ships on the board. Probability tells me onw thing, but having read the post about human ability to be random and knowing that I play battleship with a certain strategy makes me reconsider my initial thought process.

]]> By: Paul Wolf /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-352831 Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:06:44 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-352831 Well, I sort of teach it that way, that “undefined” means something like “too big to measure” in slope terms. I know that’s a massive oversimplification, but it makes sense visually and sets the stage for vertical asymptotes.

Good outside-the-box suggestions for shallowest: say you have just no step between the two levels (like a split-level house, from the back door to the patio, or a curb for that matter) does that count? What about ramps? I said neither are truly stairs, but we did talk about the implications.

]]> By: Don /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-352519 Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:03:33 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-352519
A kid asked of the steepest stairs contest, “What if I take a picture of a ladder standing straight up?”

I told ‘em ladders weren’t allowed, but I thought the suggestion was gold.

I admire your restraint in not answering that a straight vertical line wasn’t defined in your slope assignment.

]]> By: Paul Wolf /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-352143 Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:30:20 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-352143 That is to say, I told them it was a contest ahead of time…don’t know how that will affect it.

]]> By: Paul Wolf /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-352140 Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:22:57 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-352140 A kid asked of the steepest stairs contest, “What if I take a picture of a ladder standing straight up?”

I told ’em ladders weren’t allowed, but I thought the suggestion was gold.

]]> By: DMT /2011/shoulda-woulda-coulda/#comment-351921 Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:06:11 +0000 /?p=11824#comment-351921 I used a protractor to check the angles on Dan’s spinner and I get that 5000 is the best bet. In any case, I think it is more interesting to not have one the “extremes” be the best bet when making a point to students.

In my opinion, it makes a stronger point of the value of doing the calculations if the best bet is a “random bet in the middle somewhere”.

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