I Speak Math
Integrating technology and mathematics.


“I Feel So Accomplished!” – Problem Solving, Noah’s Ark
“I feel so accomplished!” is what I overheard a student say after doing the Noah’s Ark problem solving activity in my class today. I also heard, “You will REALLY like math class today! It was so hard, but so much fun!”

I gave them the Noah’s Ark problem (thanks Fawn) ! I followed Fawn’s suggestions for problem solving because she is the expert.
- Give them all their own copy of the problem. (And a sheet of animals to cut out if they wanted it). Noah’s Arc PS
- Let them read it silently
- Let one of them read it aloud while other students read along silently.
- Let them work silently for a few minutes.
- Let them work together.
- Discuss solutions.
While working silently, many students came up with a solution. However, once they started working with others, they realized that their solutions may not be correct. I loved how they were explaining their solutions to their classmates, and their classmates would say, “Oh, but then you would have too many zebras.” and I would hear the, “Ohhhhh…” My favorite had to be “But WHAT is kangaroo? WHAT ARE YOU?” Several students asked for another copy because they had written all over theirs and wanted to start again.

Some students let the animals equal animal values.
Most students had to work together to come up with the correct solution. A cluster of my students decided to assign point values to some of the animals, and variables for others.
This was an altered version of substitution, and so interesting for me to see. I loved how they molded the problem to fit their level of understanding. Their minds work in fascinating ways!
Student Solutions:

Here the animal cut-outs are used to visually show the substitution. This was helpful for the students who were not convinced by the algebraic solution.

Noah’s Arc PS
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6 thoughts on “ “i feel so accomplished” – problem solving, noah’s ark ”.
Reblogged this on My Mathscape and commented: This would be great to do with my 6th graders
what’s the correct answer?!?
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- E (elephant) ------> 12pounds ( I know an elephant isn't 12 pounds in real life. The reason
- B (bear) ------> 6pounds I did this was because using small numbers will definitely
- K (kangaroo) -----> 4pounds make it easier.
- Z (zebra) ------> 2pounds
- S (seal) ------> 1 pound

I LOVE BLACK NIGGERS
I love white niggers
Hi, how did you come up with those numbers for the weight for each animal, because if you just number them 1-5 you will not end up with the correct answer.
however this was a complete waist of my time /\ | should have been waste
I just got this by guessing the bear was = 1.5 of a kangaroo and 4 seals = 1 kangaroo and saw if it fit with the other equations
How do u show ur work?
please tell me how exactly you got the numbers for th weight.
Don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed Yeah... I don't wanna fall asleep, I don't wanna pass away I been thinking of our future cause I'll never see those days I don't know why this has happened, but I probably deserve it I tried to do my best, but you know that I'm not perfect I been praying for forgiveness, you been praying for my health When I leave this earth, hoping you'll find someone else Cause yeah, we still young there's so much we haven't done Getting married, start a family, watch your husband with his son I wish it could be me, but I won't make it off this bed I hope I go to heaven, so I see you once again My life was kinda short, but I got so many blessings Happy you were mine, it sucks that it's all ending Don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed And I, don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed I'm happy that you're here with me, I'm sorry if I tear up When me and you were younger you would always make me cheer up Taking goofy videos while walking through the park You would jump into my arms every time you heard a bark Cuddle in your sheets, sang me sound asleep And sneak out through your kitchen at exactly 1:03 Sundays went to church, on Mondays watched a movie Soon you'll be alone, sorry that you have to lose me Don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed And I, don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed Don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed And I, don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed And I, don't stay awake for too long Don't go to bed I'll make a cup of coffee for your head It'll get you up and going out of bed
this comment section is so aids
Bad luck to kill a seabird
Wow this REALLY helped TYSM !!! You are a frikin genius <3
The comments are screaming
WHAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER!!!!
its 6 seals
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I try do add a lot of pictures to keep the reader entertained while trying to gain more knowledge as they read along.

Quadrant Dan
Day 97: Noah’s Ark
Algebra wrapped up solving systems by graphing today and moved on to substitution. I found an awesome intro activity over at Fawn’s 180 blog .
The first time through, I didn’t give students enough time to chew on the problem. But, for the rest of the day I gave them 20-25 minutes to work on it in small groups. A lot of students were stumped but no one was unable to at least have a start on the problem. I heard a lot of satisfying sighs of relief today after students solved the problem.
With time students came up with a lot of different solutions, I challenged all them and it was a great activity in developing reasoning.
Here are two example of student work

Great day today!
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Mrs. Riley's Class
Supporting Learners to be Creative, Curious and Caring

Equations Without the Equal Sign
All puzzles are linked in this post! Don’t worry they are all not showing – I share. I promise!
I know the photos are terrible – go see my other website … I can do better 🙂

My students had some AMAZING conversations over these puzzles yesterday! After our warm-up (the 24 game is popular now), I gave them the Star Wars problem first . It is simpler, more straight forward, and many students intuitively figure out the answer to Round 3…. but must explain their thinking. That part takes 10 minutes or more. They must work on their own at first and then explain to their partner how they arrived (or tried to arrive) at an answer.

The second problem I introduced was Fawn Nguyen’s Noah’s Ark problem . They had even better conversations with this problem. First, we read the problem on our own for a few minutes. Maybe make some predictions or choose some strategy. Then, we work with a partner to solve it. This problem took much longer of course and students had two different answers at the end. Most of them took the old fashioned route of using the information at the bottom of the paper and worked their way up. After solving it in groups, we took to the board and started out with: what do we know for sure? Which then leads us to 1 elephant = 2 bears, 1 bear = 3 zebras and therefore 1 elephant = 6 zebras. Then move higher up the chain to work with the kangaroos and seals.
I gave them pictures of the animals to cut out and use… but none of them did. It is always interesting to see what students will use. I know ours use white boards a lot in the younger grades and that is what they are familiar with and is easy. For me instead of creating a set of equations (1E=2B etc.), I found it easier to convert the animals to pounds. The lowest number that has a lot of factors I could use is 12. So I made the elephant 12 pounds and made my deductions from there. So, the bears are 6 pounds each, etc.
What is an equation? What are some strategies we can use to solve this problem? Explain why you think the answer is ____ seals. • How else could you have …? • How are these _____________ the same? • How are these different? • What would you do if …? • What would happen if …? • What else could you have done? • If I do this, what will happen? • Is there any other way you could …? • Why did you …? • How did you …?
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A Problem "Noah's Ark"
This problem is one that I was shown to at COABE a couple of years ago that still has me bamboozled. So, I am posting it here to learn from you all strategies for success.
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I see lots of these "systems of equations with images instead of variables" online and since it's not written in traditional math language, the authors get to play games with assumptions...
I see five variabls and four equations. This makes me wonder if there is a single solution. I'll come back to this ;)
I understand - I have been working on this on and off for quite some time.
all the other lines are extraneous. We are told one bear is 3 zebras and asked how many bears would be equivalent to six zebras.
The rest is extra stuff.
Aren't we asked how many seals plus one bear equal six zebras? Your point is a great one as too many times our students do get caught up in extraneous information.
I've tried to assign a number value to each animal. No luck yet!
Steve Schmidt
Moderator, LINCS Reading and Writing CoP
Shiv's Blog
Just another 22blogs sites site, noah’s ark.
Noah’s Ark was related to algebraic thinking as to solve the problem you had to basically simplify and evaluate most of the equations so that you can find out how many seals equal to one polar bear. For example if you were trying to find the value of x in y and you have lots of equations telling what the value of z is then you would simplify and evaluate the equations so that you would be able to find they value of x in y. Basically this was algebra but in a different form. Evens in the picture below I found out the answer by simplifying and evaluating the equations to find the answer. Noah’s ark was also very good because it teaches you to look at algebraic equations in a different way. Noah’s Ark also related to algebra because the way they laid out the problem is kind of the same way they lay out the problem in a algebraic problem. For example the problem had multiple variables.
My work. Problem. Keshav’s Work
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COMMENTS
Noah was on the ark for approximately 370 days, assuming a lunar calendar of 360 days. Noah first entered the ark on day 17 of the second month and left the ark on day 27 of the second month the following year.
Noah took at most 100 years to build the ark, being first mentioned in the Bible at 500 years old and stepping on the ark at 600 years old. The exact time it took Noah to build the ark is not specifically mentioned in the Bible.
The living place of Noah varies among religions, but he appears to have lived in the Middle East, around the region of Mesopotamia or Turkey. According to some biblical accounts, Noah lived a solitary life or lived among his fellow tribal m...
“I feel so accomplished!” is what I overheard a student say after doing the Noah's Ark problem solving activity in my class today.
HOW. My first answer was 3 seals, but it did not check with all the other two equations. So, I tried finding a different approach and got 6 seals. EE
The next thing I did was to try solving the problem starting from deck five. ... After finding out that two seals wasn't the answer
3. Handshakes. 4. Climbing Stairs. 5. Noah's Ark. I'll explain why I love each one and I'll share some ideas for strategies that students use to solve them.
Problem Solving: Noah's Ark. Name_______________________. Mr. Noah wants his Ark to sail along on an even keel. The ark is divided down the middle,.
Algebra wrapped up solving systems by graphing today and moved on to substitution ... I didn't give students enough time to chew on the problem.
The second problem I introduced was Fawn Nguyen's Noah's Ark problem. ... of course and students had two different answers at the end.
I see five variabls and four equations. This makes me wonder if there is a single solution. I'll come back to this ;). Log in or register to
Noah's Ark was related to algebraic thinking as to solve the problem you had to basically simplify and evaluate most of the equations so
The day 2 task is to solve this animal puzzle using whatever method makes sense to you. You'll see in the next lesson how it leads us to
Mr. Noah would like his ark to sit perfectly level in the water. You need to figure out how many seals(6) balance with 3 zebras.