Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Reclaiming Chaos Compound #1

Math Spies is reclaiming Chaos Compound and turning it into the new Math Spies headquarters.  Mikey's job is to arrange 36 portraits on a wall in the Math Spies' Hall of Fame.  All of the portraits are the same size and should be arranged in even columns and rows.  What are all of the ways that Mikey can arrange the portraits?  (Hint: What are the factor pairs of 36?)

 
Go to the next problem.

Reclaiming Chaos Compound -- Introduction

After Col. Chaos abandoned Chaos Compound, Math Spies bought it from the bank.  Now it is time to clean up the mess, inventory the supplies, and turn it into the new Math Spies Headquarters.  Over the next several weeks the problems you will solve as a Math Spy involve skill in multiplication.

Some of the problems require finding factor pairs of a certain number.  For example the factor pairs for 24 are 1 X 24, 2 X 12,
3 X 8, 4 X 6, 8 X 3, 12 X 2, and 24 X 1.  Other problems requiring multiplying a double-digit number times a double-digit number.

Work hard and you will succeed.


Click here to begin the episode.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Secret Room #7


This building contains four congruent rooms of 2 X 4 square units each.  Is there a secret room?  How big is the room?

If you need help, click here.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Secret Room #6

Two rooms in this building are 2 X 2 square units.  The other two are 3 X 3 square units.  Is there a secret room?  How big is it?

If you need help, click here.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Secret Room #5

This building has four rooms.  One measure 2 X 2 square units.  One measures 3 X 3 square units.  Two measure 2 X 3 square units.  Is there a secret room?  How big is it?

If you need help, click here.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Secret Room #4

This building has four congruent rooms that measure 2 X 3 each.  There is a hallway that measures 1 X 4.  Is there a secret room?  How big is it?

If you need help, click here.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Secret Room #3

This building has two rooms that are 2 X 3 square units and two rooms that measure 2 X 2.  There is also a 1 X 3 hallway.  Does this building have a secret room?  How big is it?

If you need help, click here.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Secret Room #2

This building has two rooms that measure 2 X 4 square units each and two rooms that measure 2 X 2 square units each.  Does this building have a secret room?  How many square units is the secret room?

If you need help, click here.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Secret Room #1

This building has a room that is 2 X 3 square units, a room that is 3 X 3 square units, and a hallway that is 1 X 4 square units.  Is there a secret room?  How many units is it?

If you need help, click here.

How to Find Secret Rooms

 
Memo
 
To: Math Spies
From: The Director
Re: Secret Rooms
 
It has come to our attention, that Col. Chaos stashed important information in secret rooms hidden in the buildings on Chaos Compound.  To locate the secret rooms, compare the area of the building with the area of each known room.
 
Look at the diagram above.  In the first building, there are two rooms that measure 2 X 3 units with a 1 X 3 unit hallway.  There is no space leftover for a secret room.
 
In the second building there are two rooms that are 2 X 3 square units, but the hallway is 1 X 2.  There is a square unit leftover that is the hidden room.
 
You will see the puzzle like this:
 
This building contains two rooms 2 X 3 square units each.  The hallway measures 1 X 2 square units.  Is there a secret room?  If so, how big is it?
 
 
 

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Quilt Square Code #1

blue yellow green

0/8
1/8
2/8
3/8
4/8
5/8
6/8
7/8
s
r
t
a
f
b
c
e

What is the code word?

To learn how to solve quilt square codes, click here.

How to Solve Quilt Code Problems

Red Yellow Black

To solve a quilt square code, first figure out the fraction of the square for each color.  In the example square above, 4/8 is yellow and 4/8 is black.  None of the square has red so we call that 0/8.

Now use the chart below to write a letter for each color.

0/8
1/8
2/8
3/8
4/8
5/8
6/8
7/8
b
c
u
t
e
l
m
n

Red = 0/8 = b.
Yellow = 4/8 = e.
Black = 4/8 = e.

The code word is bee.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Case of the Corrupt Carnival #7

The picture above shows a spinner that will be displayed horizontally at the county fair at the end of September.  You may choose red or blue. If the spinner lands on the color you choose, you win five tickets.

Is this game fair?  Why or why not?

To try out this spinner and others that will be featured carnival games, click here to download a paper pencil version.

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