If you're going 80 mph how long will it take to go 80 miles?
So, as usual, when my mom finds something on Facebook that's related to math, she tags me in the post. This was probably the craziest post.
Ok, the guy recording the video asks this question, "If you're going 80 mph, how long will it take to go 80 miles?". He has two friends sitting on the porch with him, and they both are seriously interested in answering the question.
These were their answers
*6 hours
*it's kind of a tricky question
*one hour
*8-5
*80 miles
*8 hours
*a minute and a half
*a mile is like a football field
*80 hours
*2 hours
As a math teacher, it saddens me that questions as simple as these are so difficult. There are multiple videos of people trying to answer the question, and not too many people were able to give a logical answer. Instead of them actually thinking about the question, they wanted to blurt out an answer and keep guessing. Seems to me, that's what a lot of my students do. They get an answer wrong, then immediately guess again instead of actually taking time to think it through. They ALWAYS rely on second chances! What measures do I need to take to make them understand how serious it is to think and process a question before blurting out answers or giving up? Secondly, what would your answer be? See link below.
https://youtu.be/a_d0_rYZhy4
My students do the exact same thing! It even gets to the point where they stop raising their hands and just start shouting out answers. I found something that works pretty well for that though. I will choose a student to answer the question and if they get it wrong then I will choose one more student. If the second student gets it wrong I simply say "to the group". What this means is that the students have 1-3 minutes, depending on how difficult the problem is, to discuss it with their group. If they yell out their answers or give me some random guess with no reasonable explanation then their group loses a point. They are expected to take a moment to talk orally about the problem with their group and then completely work out the problem. I give my class several opportunities throughout a month long period to earn points for their group. At the end of the month the group with the most points wins a prize. They take their prizes very seriously haha.
ReplyDeleteAnd the answer is....it would take 1 hour to travel 80 miles at 80 miles per hour.
ReplyDeleteI think having students discuss and do math together is one step in the right direction. I also think explaining, modeling, and providing supported practice with everyday math problems will also be helpful in engaging students in everyday math.
ReplyDeleteReading this reminded me of teaching fifth grade math. I was teaching my students how to write word problems. At first, especially students that struggled, would write problems that were impossible to answer. After talking with these students, I realized they really thought some of the word problems from class or homework didn't have a real answer.