It started on Twitter. My challenge was irresistible to fellow math buddy Kyle.
@mr_stadel @MathletePearce @robertkaplinsky @ddmeyer Who’s making a 3-Act Task about the rapidly spreading ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? 🙂
— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) August 21, 2014
Within what seemed like mere minutes, Kyle had a complete task, videos and all, with his own unique spin.
[FIXED] Ice Buckets #3Acts #Maths Task http://t.co/uGq2cbdwQu #mathchat #edchat cc: @mathycathy @mr_stadel @Errs5 @ddmeyer @robertkaplinsky
— Kyle Pearce (@MathletePearce) August 22, 2014
Fast-forward a few weeks. Just as Kyle couldn’t let go of the ice bucket, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Big Nickel he posted:
Thoughts on what to do with this one? @ddmeyer @mathycathy @robertkaplinsky @mr_stadel @Ryan7Read #maths #mathchat pic.twitter.com/qQlh8oTW3p
— Kyle Pearce (@MathletePearce) September 19, 2014
When Andrew Stadel posed this question, I couldn’t walk away. It awakened within me the “perplexity” Dan Meyer talks about. I just. needed. to. know. And I felt responsible to report back.
@mr_stadel My favorite question so far, Andrew! No rest for me until I know the answer @MathletePearce @ddmeyer @robertkaplinsky @Ryan7Read
— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) September 20, 2014
After all of my work, I thought using Tackk would be a great medium to share with Tweeps. This task not only inspired me to explore my own fine-tuned question, but it also encouraged me to create a product to easily share my work with the circle of math friends involved in this conversation, and beyond! Click the image below to see my Tackk.
I have not asked students to use Tackk before, but how great could that be?
There are limitless possibilities here – photos, text, and media can be displayed neatly in a Tackk… and once student Tackk links are shared with the teacher, they could easily be collected and shared in a ThingLink with an entire class, entire school, or the entire world. Note that Tackk also has settings for conversations to continue within the Tackk itself (feel free to add to mine! I know my estimate is an over-estimate! How could we make this estimate more precise?)
Have your students created solutions to math tasks using Tackk or a similar medium? If so, please share! I’d love to have more student examples to show my own kiddos before asking them to create their own.
Thank you to all Tweeps involved in this Twitter conversation. I cherish the amazing PD I receive through our interactions. You challenge and inspire me!
Ready to take the Big Nickel challenge with your students? Want to see classroom-ready visuals and resources? Here’s Kyle’s take on the Big Nickel Twitter Playdate done in classic 3-Act style.
Awesome work, Cathy! Seriously, I loved your strategy and integration of technology. I have two follow up questions, one regarding the over-estimation.
1. I like how you said the coins would not tesselate and drew a representation. That said, it’s important to find out what question you might have solved. I would say you solved a question similar to, “What are the number of melted coins it would take to make the solid huge coin?”
This leads to my second question.
2. Unless I missed it, we’re making the assumption the giant coin is solid metal and not hallow inside. If it is hallow inside, this helps us get a more reasonable cost for when it was built, but changes the mathematical approach. How much of the inside is missing?
Thanks for reporting back. Stellar job.
Thanks for the feedback, in particular, the food-for-thought you provide!
Indeed, I was imagining a hollow Big Nickel and made that assumption without stating it. I did some research on the Big Nickel and could only find that the layer of metal on the outside was covering a wooden frame within. You’d think someone would have taken pictures during its construction, or that there might be construction plans online, but I haven’t been able to find any! I’d love to explore the idea of what that thing looks like inside to entertain my original thought of literally filling Big Nickel with little nickels. You make a great point that I did answer a question, just not necessarily the one I was thinking! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Cathy