Math Tricks Unit Portfolio MATH 6 A: PATTERNS AND VARIABLES Directions: You are about to perform a “magic” math trick. Find a friend or family member to perform your math trick for. Follow the steps below. 1. Tell your friend
Why did the math book look sad?
Because it had too many problems!
that you are going to perform a math trick using patterns and variables. Explain that you will ask them to choose a number, do some calculations, and then reveal a surprising result at the end.
2. Ask your friend to choose any positive whole number. Let's say they choose the number 7.
3. Tell your friend to multiply the chosen number by 5. In this case, they would multiply 7 by 5, which equals 35.
4. Next, instruct your friend to add 10 to the result they just obtained. So, adding 10 to 35 gives us 45.
5. Now, ask your friend to divide the new number by 5. Dividing 45 by 5 results in 9.
6. Finally, have your friend subtract their original chosen number from the updated value. So, subtracting 7 from 9 gives us 2.
7. At this point, tell your friend that the surprising result is always 2, no matter what number they initially chose!
8. Explain to your friend that this magic trick works due to the algebraic concept of variables. By going through the given steps, you end up with an expression that simplifies to the value of 2, regardless of the input number.
9. Encourage your friend to try the trick with different numbers and see if they always get the same surprising result.
10. Lastly, reflect on the trick with your friend and discuss how patterns and variables are important in mathematics and can lead to unexpected outcomes.