Enlarging a Photo

Today's Problem:  A photo measures 6 inches along the base and is 8 inches high.  We need to enlarge the photo so that it fits in a frame that is 15 inches along the base.  What will the height of the new photo be?

The #1 most popular wrong answer...17.
So, students were back to the drawing board to figure it out correctly.

We used a variety of materials:  graph paper, unifix cubes, tiles, or just good ol' paper/pencil.

After teams found the correct answer, students shared their various methods.

Sometimes when we solve math problems, it helps if we break down the problem to an easier, or smaller, place to start.

When we solve math problems, we need to understand what the numbers stand for.
Ask your student what 2.5 means for this problem.

Or the problem can be set up so that the FISHY method can be used.
What is the FISHY method?

Today we found out that there isn't just one way to solve a problem.
With math, there are many paths that all get us to the same solution.