tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post1297307674040282326..comments2024-03-21T15:59:25.263-05:00Comments on Math Teacher Mambo: Units ConversionShireen Dadmehrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16282965851939089408noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-79687301336268345832011-05-25T03:28:15.199-05:002011-05-25T03:28:15.199-05:00Well, I wanted them to do more than just blindly p...Well, I wanted them to do more than just blindly plug into formulas. Also, I wanted to show a realistic situation of how this can be used. For example, if company is mass producing this objects, they need the cost information for budgets.Shireen Dadmehrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16282965851939089408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-9536767768769316242011-05-24T00:45:25.745-05:002011-05-24T00:45:25.745-05:00Why did you have to put that sneaky " what ab...Why did you have to put that sneaky " what about volume" question at the end?carolannnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-63169784695191992602011-05-23T20:42:55.826-05:002011-05-23T20:42:55.826-05:00Max,
Those are great questions. They would be nic...Max,<br /><br />Those are great questions. They would be nice extensions. ... I'm guessing you know the answers and are just posing the fun thinking questions. I'll have to enhance the next go-round with my geometry kids.Shireen Dadmehrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16282965851939089408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-12395539617590355192011-05-23T13:01:50.305-05:002011-05-23T13:01:50.305-05:00I hang out all day long with problem-solving geeks...I hang out all day long with problem-solving geeks, most of whom are really visual thinkers. Also, I write problem-solving support for middle-school and elementary-school students. Again, we tend to go visual or hands-on with those groups. If you had posed this scenario to me 5 years ago, I would have been thinking algebraically like you did in that nicely-illustrated document. My newly found visual problem-solver got stuck on the following question: does it matter how those 100 square inches are arranged? Can you always fit 25/36 of a square foot into 100 square inches? What if it's a 1-inch by 144-inch square foot? Is that still considered a *square* foot? Is it easier to see in a squarer square foot? And what are the shapes in the original context anyway?<br /><br />Funny what different questions and answers come up when you approach with a different problem-solving strategy!Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16935784635103701185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-23996478140754021012011-05-23T07:39:16.615-05:002011-05-23T07:39:16.615-05:00nice posting . . keep blogging!!nice posting . . keep blogging!!istiyantohttp://mathandflash.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-1550786921943543332011-05-22T13:40:42.065-05:002011-05-22T13:40:42.065-05:00I prefer to start with a square foot. "How m...I prefer to start with a square foot. "How many inches is this side? "12in". How many inches on this side?" 12in" So how many square inches in a square foot? "144sqin."<br />Then switch to metric and 1g H2O = 1ml, 1ml = 1 cm3; 1000cm3 = 1dm3; 1000L = 1m3; <br />__ cm3 = 1m3;<br />__ cm3 = 1km3<br /><br />How many Liters is that 383ci. hotrod engine?<br /><br />For what it's worth, I don't think anyone teaches square units or cubic units in middle school. Too busy pretending they're teaching algebra -- raising standards, don't cha know.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04323026187622872114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-670469954758390442011-05-21T19:08:34.516-05:002011-05-21T19:08:34.516-05:00Lsquared:
That's just crazy! Hopefully, the t...Lsquared:<br /><br />That's just crazy! Hopefully, the teachers are supplementing. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to stick much.Shireen Dadmehrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16282965851939089408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10220498.post-59258082224058228962011-05-21T11:44:47.434-05:002011-05-21T11:44:47.434-05:00A funny (and relevant) thing happened a month ago....A funny (and relevant) thing happened a month ago. I was working with a girl (who is home-schooled) who is learning math out of a 7th grade Singapore text, and we got to the section on converting square units (square meters to square cm, etc), and I thought--we should do some similar problems with inches and feet. So I went to my department's library of middle school math texts (3 text book series), and looked for a section that included converting square units. Guess what? That section wasn't there! So from my short survey, most US middle school texts don't teach this at all (whereas they've been converting linear units since second grade). I'm thinking this could be part of the problem.LSquared32https://www.blogger.com/profile/00858524638866166691noreply@blogger.com