Problem Set 2 for my Problem-Solving Course

I've posted problem set 1 here and Chapter 0, which I've renamed Unit 1, here. Both are going to be part of a workbook I am creating for my students in my Honors Problem-Solving seminar. Thanks a million to @mrdardy for catching some typos and asking me great and thoughtful questions!


Here is my Problem Set 2.

In the 6 problems I give each week, I’m trying to include (and this has pretty much been in my head till now…I blogged about some of it, or wrote in the comments):

-one algebra problem

-one geometry problem

-one probability problem

-one problem based on what I will be doing in class that week

-one problem that may “recur” that they could see again somehow (like, my second problem set has a geo problem that ends up being the golden ratio)

-one logic problem

I think I have to write my weekly unit 2 before I create the next problem set, so it will all fit in well together...in other words, the unit and the problem sets kind of go hand in hand. 

Speaking of hands, below is the logic problem from problem set 2. 

Any feedback is welcomed :)

March Madness with Mathalicious

This is a quick post to talk about the three-act lesson from Mathalicious on bracketology, which you can find here. I have not used a lesson from Mathalicious before, but I will be sure to. It's all set up for teacher use, and it really brought up some good discussion with my Honors Problem-Solving class, such as, what's the probability of guessing a bracket? Is it better to guess by flipping a coin or by actual picking? Is Warren Buffet's 1 billion dollar prize for the perfect bracket possible? Is it probable? What are some scoring systems that work or don't work?

For someone who knows nothing about the NCAA (sadly), I learned a lot today. We had fun talking about it, and the online version was really cool in terms of visualizing the 63 games.

I have never picked a bracket before, but it was interesting to go through and pick one with students. Next time I do think we should do it by flipping a coin, just to see how it goes. This time, I picked the bracket with students through The Skimm and everyone got into it. It was definitely fun to do as we were wrapping up our probability unit.

Mathalicious has many more lessons that I will look at and use...some you have to pay for a membership, but it looks like there is a lot of work put into it, which allows you, the teacher, more time for class discussion and less time for preparation. How awesome is that?