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Building A Model
2
Mathematics is a way of modelling the real world. A mathematical
There may be several models appropriate for a given problem. The choice of a particular model is often related to the students previous knowledge and problem-solving experience.
Objects and drawings and writing an equation are also abstract
ways of modelling a problem situation. The use of modelling provides a method for organizing information that could lead to the selection of another problem-solving strategy.
Building A Model
3
Types of models
Mathematics modeling Discrete model
Continuous model
Probabilistic model Waves & oscillations model
Optimization model
Question 1:
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM: We want to know the distance between hole 1 and hole 3. 1. What is the distance from hole 1 to hole 4? 35 cm 2. What is the distance from hole 1 to hole 2? Half the distance from hole 2 to hole 3 3. What is the distance from hole 3 to hole 4? The same as from hole 2 to hole 3 DEVISE A PLAN: Building A Model Physical Models
CARRYING THE PLAN : Mark off a distance of 35 cm on a rectangular steel plate. Place a marker labelled 1 at the zero point and one labelled 4 at the 35-cm point. Place markers 2 and 3 between 1 and 4. 1) Move 2 and 3 until the distances between 2 & 3 and 3 & 4 are equal. 2) Distance between 1 & 2 =half the distance between 2 & 3 Adjust the markers until both of these conditions are met. 21cm Measure the distances to double check.
The distance between 1 and 3 is 21 cm.
0
Rectangular Steel Plate
35
LOOK BACK :
Does our answer seem reasonable? Yes, the answer must be less than 35cm.
Question 2: If an eight-inch-square cake serves four people, how many 12-inch-square cakes are needed to
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM : We need to find out how many 12 12 cakes are needed. From the question, we know that:
1. How big is the original cake? 8 8
2. How many people did it feed? 4 3. How big are the other cakes? 12 12
DEVISE A PLAN : How should we approach this problem? Diagram the cakes to understand the size of the portions. CARRYING THE PLAN : Draw an 8 8 cake and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Since each piece is a square with side length of 4, the area of each piece is 4 4 = 16 square inches.
4 4
So each person gets 16 square inches of cake. 18 people times 16 square inches per person equals 288
total square inches of cake needed. We know that a 12 12 cake contains 144 square inches of cake. 288 divided by 144 equals 2, so two 12 12 cakes are required to feed 18 people.
LOOK BACK : Did we answer the correct question, and does our answer seem reasonable? Yes.
Question 3: Linda has a total of RM72.00, consisting of an equal number of 1 cent, 5 cents, 10 cents and 20 cents.
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM : We want to know how many coins Linda has.
How much money does she have total?
RM72.00
How many of each coin does she have?
DEVISE A PLAN :
know how much all of her coins are worth total, so we can write an equation that models the situation.
CARRYING THE PLAN: Let p = the number of 1 cent n = number of 5 cents d = number of 10 cents q = number of 20 cents From the equation above, Equation: p + 5n + 10d + 20q = 7200 We know that she has an equal number of each coin, so p = n = d = q.
Substitute p into the equation, p + 5p + 10p + 20p = 7200 36p = 7200 p = 200
Linda has 200 one cent. Since she has an equal
number of each coin, she also has 200 five cents, 200 ten cents and 200 twenty cents. Therefore, she has 800 coins.
LOOK BACK :
Did we answer the question asked? Yes.
(for the number of coins if they were all 1 cent and greater than 360 (the number of coins if they were all 20 cents).
Reference List
18
http://www.spring-
ford.net/staff/hsmit/5th%20Grade%20Math/5thgradeeduplaceworksheet
s/Unit%206%20Geometry%20and%20Measurement/15_7%20Problem %20Solving%20Make%20a%20Model%20Tesselate%20a%20Hexago n%20Problem%20Solving.pdf
http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255w02/cs255students/acattron/p1
1/lesson.pdf
http://www.justforkidsonly.com/mathmoney2.htm