12 of 481 Items .... Course: MS Math

Problems, Questions, and Puzzles to spark discussion and argument in the maths classroom.

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An article about the Netflix price hike:

Netflix upped the rate of its "two-screen" plan from $8.99 to $9.99. This plan lets you watch two HD (or regular) streams simultaneously on different devices. Netflix's "one-screen" and "four-screen" plans remained unaffected.

Here's the thinking: If Netflix subscribers start dropping from the two-screen plans to one-screen plans, this will make them a lot less likely to share their password. No one wants a little offhand altruism to actually affect their viewing habits. That would be bad. If the resulting lack of password-sharers pushes more people to subscribe, then its worth the dollar per subscriber Netflix loses when a user downgrades because of the price increase.

Find the NetFlix subscription numbers to see how the price hike changed things. Was this a good move?


.: [MS Math], [Curmudgeon], [The RealWorld].

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Consider a normal, everyday clock face.

If the MINUTE hand is on 2, and the hour hand and minute hand make an acute angle, what time could it be?

If the MINUTE hand is on 8, and the hour hand and minute hand make an obtuse angle, what time could it be?


.: [MS Math], [internet], [Geometry Snacks].

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Normally, I'm glad when the media talks about math, even if it is simply the latest "Super-Hard problem from Asia that All of Us Stupid American Adults and Brits Won't be Able to Solve but Their 8 Year-old Do Routinely."

Throw in "I gave it to a mathematician and he couldn't solve it either" and you've got an instant viral hit, apparently.

All right, rant over.




What's the error?

Oh, and solve it if you want, too. It's not really that hard. Further questions:


  • Which blanks CANNOT have a prime number in them?

  • Which blanks COULD have certain prime numbers?

  • Which blanks essentially force this problem to be non-unique?


No snarky notes about the description of the Order of Operations!


.: [MS Math], [internet], [Puzzle].

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Sure, you can ask, "How many?"

But wouldn't you rather see if your students can figure out what kind of fruit is each cube?


.: [MS Math], [internet], [How Many?].

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The problem speaks for itself.



.: [MS Math], [David Wees], [Explainer].

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Seems like a tough problem.




"Wait a minute. That would make it easier ..."


.: [MS Math], [Five Triangles], [Epiphany].

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What do you think? Where's the mistake and why do you think they presented it this way?




.: [MS Math], [Michael Pershan], [Notice, Wonder].

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We all know that playing the middle of a tic-tac-toe game ensures that you can never lose if you play it right, but this one seems to be a bit trickier.

Where is the best place to start?



.: [MS Math], [PD], [Which Would You Choose?].

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A closed rectangular box whose dimensions are 8 feet by 5 feet by 3 feet has some water in it. When the box is resting on its smallest face, the water is 5 feet deep. How deep will the water be if the box is resting on its largest face?


.: [MS Math], [internet], [Notice, Wonder].

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That's an 18" diameter pizza plate.
It's the same area as that slice.

What's the girl's name?

Oh, you think you have a better question? Well, do you?


.: [MS Math], [T.R.Milne], [Notice, Wonder].

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You can see that the spider has followed a line around the inside of the box.In the second image, the student has "unfolded" that box and drawn a template.

Is there a way to draw the template so that the spider's path will be one connected path on the unfolded template?












.: [MS Math], [Illustrative Math], [Puzzle].

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Always, Sometimes, Never?

W


.: [MS Math], [internet], [ASN].