Ms. Hagan’s Math Newsletter
February
Logic
Puzzle
Keep up the great
work!
Ms. Hagan
Hi All!
As many of you know, I have been making my
website better throughout the year. Be sure to
check out the hints to POWs. If you are stuck
go to the website and find a hint! I have also
put the newsletters online with hints and
answers to all of the sections you see here.
There are also hints and answers to the
newsletter on the back wall in the classroom.
If you have any suggestions to make the website
better, I would love to hear them!
Share these with your family and siblings and
enjoy math! Happy Puzzling,
Ms. Hagan
Four friends: Dave, Mike, John, and Terry are
nicknamed Stick, Batman, Atomic Head, and
Feaser, but not in that order. What is the
nickname of each?
A. John is faster than Batman, but not as strong
as Atomic head.
B. Batman is stronger than Terry, but slower
than Feaser.
C. Dave is faster than both John and Stick, but
not as strong as Batman.
From Terry Stickels KNOWLEDGE CARDS
Optical
Illusions
from: www.eyetricks.com/illusions.htm
Does this
picture make
sense?
Which man is taller? Measure them to check.
Math and Visual Arts
There are lots of online exhibits to explore tricks of
the brain! Try the website below!
www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/f_exhibits.html
W
With Effort, you can do it! I believe in you! I won’t give up on you!
February
Fun Books
to Read
The Man Who Counted
a collection of mathematical adventures
by Malba Tahan
Fun & Games
Funky Pencil
Challenge
Solve this problem. Submit your answers, with a short
This summer I stumbled upon a
explanation, to Ms. Hagan and if you are correct, you will earn
wonderful little book of math stories.
a “Funky Pencil.” I will look at all of the answers and hand out
pencils about 2 weeks after you get this newsletter.
It was written by Malba Tahan, a
Three sailors are to be rewarded some gold coins from their captain for
Brazilian Mathematician, in 1972 and
their bravery. The 200-300 coins were stored in a chest on the ship
translated to English more recently.
until they arrived at the next port where the tax collector would split the
coins into three equal portions. The first sailor thought it would be better
The stories, written in the style of
if he took his third now to avoid any arguments in port. So he went
Arabian fables like 1,001 Nights, recount into
the chest and split the coins into three equal piles, however he had
adventures of “The Man Who Counted”
one coin left over. Instead of arguing about it in port, he threw it over
and his friend who recorded the stories board, took his third, and went back to sleep. The second sailor had
the same idea, and when he split the remaining coins into thirds he also
of their journey to Bhagdad in the 14th had one coin remaining, so he tossed it over board and took his share.
century. The two of them meet up with The third sailor did the same, tossing the one extra coin. When they
lots of people on their journey and “The got to port, the tax collector distributed the reaming coins and also had
one left over. He took this coin for his services.
Man Who Counted” uses his math and
logic skills to solve puzzles and problems How many coins were there at the beginning and how
many does each sailor now have?
for the people they encounter. Each
From, The Man Who Counted
little story is about 3-5 pages long and
can be read in small pieces. This may be
a really fun book for both parents and
students to read together and try to
MasterMind
Mastermind
is
a
great
game of logic. You can buy it
solve the problems the two companions
at a store or play on paper with markers. The object
stumble upon. The “funky Pencil
of the game is to guess what color and in what order
Challenge” is an example of a problem
are the color pegs (or circles) are placed by your
from the book.
opponent. The way that you play is to guess an order
Math Game
Math
Team
News
Ms. Hagan’s room Tuesdays
from 2:30 - 3:15.
and your opponent tells you how many you have correct
Our last meet and if any of them are in the right order. You keep
is at home on guessing until you get the same as your opponent.
March 30th!
W
Play mastermind online at:
There is still
http://www.groovynet.com/javagames/mastermind/
time to join
the team.
Growing up, my sister and I would always play a
Try it out
similar game called Jotto. In this game you guess
now so next
five letter words and your opponent tells you how
year you’ll be many letters you have right and if any are in the right
a pro!
order from their secret word. It is a lot of fun!
With Effort, you can do it! I believe in you! I won’t give up on you!
February
Mixed up Labels
Picnic Mystery:
Allie takes fruit, cake
and cookies for her picnic. She has three
boxes for them. One is labeled FRUIT, one is
labeled CAKE, and one is labeled COOKIES.
She knows that her mom has played a trick on
her and put all of the treats in the wrong
boxes. The only things she knows is that fruit
is not in the CAKE box. Where is the cake?
Find the Gold: A pirate has three chests
of coins labeled IRON, GOLD, and
MIXTURE. He sets up a deal with his friend
that he can take one of the boxes. But, he
warns, all of the labels are on the wrong
chest! His friend asks, “How will I know
which is which?” The pirate says he will show
his friend one coin from a chest of his
friend’s choice, but his friend can not look
inside. Which chest should the friend choose
from to be sure he finds the chest of gold?
Logical Soda:
You have three cans labeled
SODA, MILKSHAKE, and POTATO CHIPS.
However, you know your mischievous sister has
switched the labels so none of the labels are
correct. you want to open the pop, but you
only want to open one can, so you have to get it
right. To get a clue, you make shake one can
first. Which one would you shake and how
would you choose which one to open?
From Classic Mathemagic by Inc. Sterling Publishing Co.
Multiplication
Tricks
If you are having a hard time
memorizing your multiplication
facts, there are a few “tricks” that
you can use. These tricks are based on the ways
that numbers work together. The better you know
about how numbers work, the easier it is to figure
out your facts.
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If you want 12 groups of something, it is the
same as 10 groups of it, plus two more groups.
We can think of multiplying by 12 as multiplying
by 10 and multiplying by 2 and adding them
together.
Example: If I want to multiply 12 x 6, it is the
same as 10 groups of 6 plus two groups of 6.
12 x 6 = (10 x 6) + (2 x 6) = 60 + 12 = 72
This will always work for multiplying by 12.
Try 35 x 12.
35 x 12 = 35 x 10 = 350 then add 35 x 2 = 70
350 + 70 = 420.
So 35 x 12 = 420
Mowing Mess
Problem
It takes two gardeners 8 days to mow
a huge lawn. One is lazy and one is
energetic. The energetic one would only
take 12 days to mow it on his own. How
many days would the lazy gardener take
to mow the lawn on his own?
I am available for extra help when you need it! The times that we
both might be free are: during study, during FLEX, or during lunch. I
am usually at school around 7:15 a.m. and can meet with you in the
morning if you make arrangements ahead of time. I am also here to
help students every Friday from 2:30-3:00. Please also ask for help between classes if you think
you just need a couple of minutes to make sense of something. It is my job to help you when you are
confused. My main objective is to help you learn math!
Extra
Help
With Effort, you can do it! I believe in you! I won’t give up on you!
February
Family Math
Coin Games
Riddle: Two U.S. coins add up
to 55 cents. If one of them is not
a nickel, what are the two coins?
http://www.puzzles.net/PuzzlePlayground/Coins.htm
Equilateral Triangle Puzzle
W
The object of this puzzle is to
remove the minimum number
of coins so that no equilateral
coin triangles remain between
any three coins.
Logic Puzzle: Penny says that 1985
pennies are worth slightly more than
1941 pennies. Do you know why?
1985 pennies is worth $19.85 and 1941 pennies is worth $19.41!
Can you turn this cup upside down?
Move as few coins as you can.
Move as few coins as
possible to make this
triangle into a square.
Jumping Coins
Can you move all of the quarters to the left three spots and the
pennies to the right three spots? To move the coins, you can
either slide one box towards the coin’s destination, or you can
jump one other coin towards the coin’s destination.
Touching coins
Logic Puzzle - Counterfeit Coins
Ten people each give you a bag containing 10 gold coins.
Each gold coin weighs 1 oz. However, one person has
cheated you, giving you a bag in which each coin only
weighs 0.9 oz. You are trying to identify the cheat, but
your scale is almost out of batteries and you can only
make one measurement. What will you measure?
When you put three coins together they
each touch all of the other coins. In the
example below there are four coins, and
each one is touching the
other three coins. Can
4th
you put together five
coin
coins where each one is
touching the other four?
To contact me, you can send email to [email protected]. Please also check out my
website at: http://www.wayland.k12.ma.us/middle_school/hagan/indexa.htm
With Effort, you can do it! I believe in you! I won’t give up on you!
W
February