Metaphors on problem solving from 8am class

 

A metaphor is "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them." Problem solving is like driving. When you drive, you know you have a certain destination in which in you need to reach, but the problem lies in how you are going to get there. Problem solving is basically the same thing, because when you are given the problem, you know what you need to find out, but how to arrive at the answer is what needs to be accomplished.  So in a sense, they are both the same thing.

 

A metaphor for problem solving can is, problem solving is a puzzle.  I chose that because when I first look at a problem, it is just a big jumble of pieces, but then I start to see where all the pieces go in the puzzle, or problem.  Then things start to come together, and look the way they are supposed to be.  But, if you are missing on piece of the puzzle, it is wrong because it does not look right.

 

"Problem solving is a stapler."  In order for the stapler to work, you must first squeeze it.  This would be like "squeezing" your brain to think.  You have to think about the problem first.  Once the staple gets through the paper, the rest is easy.  Once you have a clear understanding of the problem and how to solve it, actually completing the problem is a breeze.  An example of a real life set would be a soccer team.  Its attributes would include things like position, skill, and experience.

 

Metaphors on problem solving from 9:30

 

Problem solving is an adventure with many paths.  I created this metaphor because there is a lot of different ways to solve all problems just like a lot of different places to go on an adventure.  Also it’s a trial and error process if you go down the wrong road you can turn around and try again.  You also learn many new things solving every problem just like when you go an adventure and discover new things.   

 

Sets

 An example of a real life set could be the road system.  When the roads meet, they meet at an intersection and they have something in common.  Another example of a set is a river and an ocean because they eventually meet at one point and it is at an intersection.

 

Shared journal 4 entries:

 

Why is base 10 a good base?

 

Question 4.2 - Base ten is the best base to work with for three main reasons. One reason is that our money system revolves around tens. We have dimes which are ten cents. Ten dimes equal one dollar. There are also ten, hundred, and thousand dollar bills. The other monetary increments are nickels and two nickels equal a dime. Also, two five dollar bills equal a ten dollar bill. Another reason why base ten is a good system is because the metric system revolves around the number ten. For example, there are one hundred centimeters in a meter stick. Children will learn to become familiar with using tens. A third reason why base ten is the best system to use is because numbers that end in zero are easier and cleaner to work with. For example, when you are adding two numbers that end in zero, the zero acts as the placeholder and you only have to worry about adding the other numbers together. This helps when large numbers are added. So these reasons illustrate how base ten is the best base to work with.

 

 

There are many different base number systems and the one that is most commonly used is base ten.  The reason that base ten is better system is because the it is more simply to work with the number one since when you are looking at for example two flats that is two hundred units it is easy to know that  because in one long there are ten units and in a flat there are ten longs so if you do ten times ten it equals one hundred then you just add another hundred because there are two of them.  Where in like a base eight system the numbers are not so easily come by because they do not work out as nicely as tens because in a flat in eight would be 80 units and in two of them there would be 160 but it is just not as easy as just basically adding one plus one.  The base ten is also simpler because as children we often use our fingers to count and add most people have 10 fingers with a few except for a small percentage of people.  Anyway so when counting they go up to ten and then have to either start on the other hand again or imagine the rest of the numbers.  So when you tell a student that a group of ten can be made into a group it might be easier for them to make that transition from using there hands into using base 10 pieces. For example if you start off with comparing a long to a student’s hands saying how our fingers are like a long because it contains 10 units (fingers) which will give them yet another idea for when they are home and do not have access to the pieces they can count to 15 and realize that they have to group 10 together and are left with only five units.  Base ten has been the method for so long that if it was changed now it would confuse most of the people because they would have to relearn everything and it could be difficult to come up with a new system that would be as easy for people to make new connections are learn it.