Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Holiday Travel Math

According to national news sources, 3.5 million people will be flying for the Thanksgiving Holiday.   There are some fun yet realistic calculations that can be discerned from this information.   First of all, approximately how much money can be made by airline companies this weekend alone.  Well, think of each seat at a price of $150 one way.  How much gross earnings did the companies make?  Distance traveled as well is huge. With an average of at least 1,000 miles per passenger how many miles were traveled over the holiday weekend?   To put this in perspective,  think about a trip to the moon at 238,000 miles or Mars at 33.9 million miles, the scary part is both of those can be divided into the total miles flown by people over this Thanksgiving holiday season.   How many times could you make each trip to the moon and Mars?

Happy Thanksgiving.

Multiplication Facts

The best study guide for times tables is a grid of math from 0 through 12 so that a pattern can be followed.   For the first set of five factors there are a number of basic rules.  Once we get into the 6 to 12 factors we simply double or triple the answer as necessary.   For example, if we know that 8x4=32 then we know that 8x8=64 because it is the same as 8x (4×2)=64.

Here is the chart.

X.  |  0. |   1.  |   2.  .....   |   10.  |  11.  |   12.  |
------------------------------------------------------------------
0. |       |         |                 |          |          |           |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. |       |         |                 |          |          |           |
------------------------------------------------------------------
2. |       |         |                 |          |          |           |
------------------------------------------------------------------

Through the middle there will a dividing line coming down from the X showing the squares. 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Proportional Math

Just the other day i was asked if $40 was a good price for 8 pounds of marshmallows.   I immediately thought of two questions.   What was the price per pound?   Secondly,  how many marshmallows are in each pound?   The second question can vary a bit based on the size of the marshmallow.   For our discussion here, i believe some research has shown that there are about 30 marshmallows in a 10 ounce bag. 

This leaves my two questions.  What is the price per pound as mentioned to me the other day?

After a little shopping, is that the better deal or is it better to buy these smaller bags?

Show your work please.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Years can Matter

Figuring out the age of someone or something can be a bit tricky but if you use this simple rule it becomes extremely easy.  Each birthday you turn the difference of your years.  For example, someone born in 1988 would be turning 26 today, 11/21/14. The day I put this post up here.  Back in the year 2000, that same person turned turned 14 today and was 13 when the Millennium changed.  Here is a sample question, what would the age be for someone born in 1932?  Use your current day and year.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Walking Time

If you walk from 1800 west to 800 west in 40 minutes.  How fast are you walking.  Assume that each mile is four blocks.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Basic Facts

In addition and multiplication the memorization of facts is an absolute necessity to allow students to build on future lessons without being dependent on a calculator or other device to do the basic calculations for them. 

In multiplication,  the only facts that cannot be broken down are the 7's.  Since they are prime, straight memory is required.   All the others can be simplified.  For example, if the 6's or 8's are of any problem, simply think of the 3 and 4 factors and then double them.  For example,  if 8x7 is a problem, think of 4x7 as 28 and then double it.  So 8x7 equals 28+28=56.

Addition,on the other hand,  is more of a rythmic parttern.  Each line starts with a numb er plus zero.  For example, the 4's line would begin with 4+0, 4+1, 4+2...and end with 4+12.  That being said, the answers to the 4's line woukd 4 to 16.  Using the same philosophy,  answers to the 9's line would be 9 to 21.

If there any questions or simplified teacjing ideas, please share.

Cost of a Job

So if an employee earns the company an average of 750 each work day, how much would the gross earnings be if the employee worked 5 days a week for 50 weeks a year.  if v they are paid at a commission rate of 25% of gross intake, what would be the annual salary?