Problem Of the Week

Leslie Aguilar 2016

Maths Write-Up
Problem Statement:
The first problem was asking to find out the most amount of cents Ms.Hernandez would have to
spend on her twins to get the same color of gumball. The problem stated that there was two
different color of gumballs. The second problem was asking the same thing but this time there
was three colors of gumballs. The third question was asking us to find the most amount of cents
that Mr. Hodges would spend on his triplets. The problem stated that the triples wanted to the
same color of gumball and there was three colors of gumballs.

Process Description:
It was difficult to figure out the first and second problem without visually planning it out. It
was mostly difficult because I was overthinking the problem when it was more simple than
thought. For the first problem I initially thought that you would need to double up the number of
siblings and that would be it. The reason why I had thought this was because I never actually
thought about it, I just said that would be the way and never actually visualized it in my head to
make sure I was right. I was wrong because the twins would of gotten more that needed and
the mother would of spend a lot more. With the help of my group members I was able to figure
out that we only need to add one to the number of siblings.

While my partners were discussing I was think and testing the idea of just adding one
the the number of siblings. One of group members said what I had thought but came up with an
equation. The equation only worked for that problem and not the rest. After that my table groups
and I decided to figure out an equation that would work for all of the problems. It was very
difficult to come up with an equation that would work for all. It took a really long time because
we would think we had one an equation but we resulted to be wrong. I don't exactly recall the
equation but I remember multiplying by 2. We tried this equation for one of the problem but did
not work for the rest. One of my table group members was able to come up with a possible
Problem Of the Week
Leslie Aguilar 2016

equation. We came up with (n-1) x + 1 n= the number of siblings and x= the number of
gumball colors. It was much easier to solve problem number three with the equation. Since all
the work we did was to create an equation or to follow the pattern that would appear.
Unfortunately, I was unable to see or follow a pattern.

Extensions:
Billy wants to get 2 matching apples from a bag. There was four different colors of apples. How
many times will Billy have to reach to get two matching apples?

Solution:
The solution that my table group found was an equation which is (n-1) x + 1
It would mean that the number or siblings minus one multiplied by the number of color of
gumball plus one would equal most amount of cents a person could spend to get the same
color. I believe to find this equation very accurate because it got a very reasonable answer.
n= number of siblings
x= color of gumballs

Self-Assessment:
I believe that I was able to understand the problem and as a result I was able to come up with
another problem. It was difficult to understand the problem at first but once I started working
with my peers I was able to use their thinking and my thinking to help me come up with a
solution. I think that it best to work with peers because it can help you think and get ideas that
maybe we would of thought on our own. My contribution with my group was pretty good
because I was able to share my ideas and thoughts to help me or my group come up with a
solution.

Habits of Mathematicians:
While solving these problems I was able to use 2 habits of mathematicians. I was able to
Conjecture and Test meaning that I was able to test my theories. If my conjectures were wrong I
was able to make adjustments and from those adjustments I would test to make sure it was
getting the necessary result. When making adjustments I was using another habit of
mathematicians which was being systematic. I was able to practice this habit because it help me
understand what I was doing wrong and what could be improved.