Comments on: [Makeover] Systems of Equations

By: Rebecca Woods

Rebecca Woods — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:17:41 +0000

What a stimulating article to read. I’m feeling stuck in a rut with my Alg 1 classes but I’m ready to create and innovate now!

By: Tech Task #4 – Internet 4 Educators

Tech Task #4 – Internet 4 Educators — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 16:53:13 +0000

[…] challenges the A++ students, and at the same time, empowersÂ the students who feel disadvantaged.Â ThisÂ is a great example of this kind of […]

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 23:15:52 +0000

In reply to Danny. Nice! Thanks for passing it along, Danny.

By: Danny

Danny — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 04:11:02 +0000

I just created a desmos activity out of this makeover to use with my class this week, what do you think?

https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/588eb1a1ff83fbe711068990

By: Educator Blogs: Opening the World for Learning and Sharing | SLM508alr

Educator Blogs: Opening the World for Learning and Sharing | SLM508alr — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:13:32 +0000

[…] absorbed in the posts, wanting to incorporate ideas into my lesson plans. Â One specifically,Â “[Makeover] Systems of EquationsÂ looked promising. Â Here Mr. Meyer takes the traditional type of question and spices it up, […]

By: Diigo Links (weekly) | Mr. Gonzalez's Classroom

Diigo Links (weekly) | Mr. Gonzalez's Classroom — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 19:56:49 +0000

[…] [Makeover] Systems of Equations — dy/dan […]

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 00:49:02 +0000

In reply to Kyla. Awesome to hear, Kyla. Thanks for the update!

By: William Carey

William Carey — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 15:41:54 +0000

Perhaps another leitmotif in pseudocontextual questions is starting with knowledge you could not possibly know to arrive at knowledge you should already know, like the lovely (though fictitious) anecdote about Niels Bohr and the barometer.

In the original question, some third party runs a theatre. They have told us (we’re not the people who run the theater, per the wording of the question) that they sold 342 tickets and made $2550, I guess out of the kindness of their hearts. For some unknown reason, they did not tell us the breakdown of adult/children’s tickets, even though they should have easy access to that information, because computers and databases.

In the revised question, there is a plausible explanation for how you have come to know what you know and why it is not more comprehensive.

By: Kyla

Kyla — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 22:45:27 +0000

What a happy coincidence that I was testing on systems of equations today in my 9th grade Algebra I, and I needed a post-test extra credit/filler. I used this blog post as inspiration. Students worked through a similar situation at their seats silently while others finished. (I started with “What is your favorite movie and why?”) I then asked for how much it would cost for 10 adults to go to the movies, 10 kids to go, and the the maximum and minimum that the theater could have made if they sold 342 tickets that day (and then continued onto the multiple totals, which ended up being too much for my kids without a chance to talk about it). More than half of the students sailed through, but others did surprising, “math-y” things with the numbers. (I was shocked to see my “top” student tell me it would cost $17 for 10 adults to attend. [A kid ticket was $7 and an adult $11 in my example, because that’s what it costs at our local theater.] Her work shown: 10+7, both numbers in the problem. I got to have a good conversation with her about drawing out a situation, which she then did (10 stick figures, each with an 11 above their heads), and got the “right” answer.) My favorite part of the exercise was to hear kids talk to each other (even though they were not supposed to be talking during the test!). I will use this next year as a small-group activity (BEFORE the test!). Others have questioned the “small” and “large” part, but I got a glimpse of the value of that thinking with my maximum and minimum questions. What is a large amount of money for a theater? What would a “slow night” look like in terms of sales?

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 22:45:18 +0000

In reply to Mike Gleeson. It's in the paragraph that starts, "This makeover claims that the core concept of systems is ...."