Before on the paper version….only one student could hold the tile. The digital version gives each student their own copy and while working in groups can chat about what strategy worked and what didn’t. I immediately made a digital version with Explain Everything. This year when I remembered this activity I wasn’t sure I still had the tiles kicking around (I found them later). Holding the tiles adds some “realness” which I feel drives the need to solve these equations. We continue by me having them select different tiles, giving them sums, having them create equations and solving them. Which results in a new equation and solves for different value….but results in the same placement of the tile!! We go back and outline that we could have chosen a different square to label n. The middle square must be a multiple of 5!!! I have them try this strategy out by throwing out another sum and have them place the tile. Now let’s add all of those expressions up What will the square immediately to the right of n always be? The left? The top? The bottom? Have them check this out by placing the tile repeatedly back on the grid. Our big problem to start is not knowing where to place the tile. This is where I stop and have a formal discussion as to why dividing by 5 here works? Will this always work? Will this always work with other shapes? What other shapes will this work with then? At this point most students will catch the strategy “If I divide the sum by 5, being like the average then I should have the middle number in the shape.” Listen to those strategies! Most groups that didn’t have a strategy before will try to adopt a strategy they heard last round. Place the tile so that it covers a sum of 420. I have them use the same tile and try again. After a few minutes I choose some of those groups I heard interesting strategies to share.then let any other group share out their strategy. I give them very little feedback at this point. I circulate and listen to their strategies. The task seems so simple to start but unpacks some great math.Īllow them to determine this sum anyway they like. The activity ran as a series of challenge puzzles around Pentominoes and a giant hundred grid chart.Īsk students in groups to choose this tile and place it on the hundreds chart so that it covers a sum of 135. Since then I had forgotten all about it (funny how that goes) UNTIL NOW! I used the activity for a few years in a row while I taught grade 9 academic. A few years ago I was introduced to a series of activities (through my then districts math consultant) that builds a driving need for students to create, simplify, and solve linear equations.
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