Can we just get this out of the way up front? Factoring is the hardest unit I teach in Algebra 1. And I feel like I find the least creative resources for it. So anytime I find an idea like this, I'm hooked!
My factoring unit came on the heels of reading Sarah Carter's Halloween Candy Tax post over at Math Equals Love AND my husband's use of Hershey Kisses in a lesson of capitalism/socialism/communism.
My factoring unit came on the heels of reading Sarah Carter's Halloween Candy Tax post over at Math Equals Love AND my husband's use of Hershey Kisses in a lesson of capitalism/socialism/communism.
I really liked the analogy of Sarah's story, but I'm a horrible storyteller, joke-teller, anything. So, I decided to make it into my lesson introduction. And it just so happened that I only had one Algebra 1 class this year, and I really liked them. Otherwise, I wouldn't have spent money on them to buy M&Ms. ;) I bought the biggest bag I could find at Walmart (plain! in case of nut allergies), and used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop them out into snack size zipper baggies.
The beauty of the clear bags and only giving students 1/4 cup is that they could spread out all of their M&Ms and count them without ever opening the bag--no spilled M&Ms during our lesson!
I gave each person a bag. My student already sit in pairs, so each pair had to determine their M&M tax. I explained that I also like M&Ms and so I was going to tax them to get my share. The tax was different for each pair. The only tax law is that I get as many M&Ms as possible while taking the same number of each color M&M from each partner.
The beauty of the clear bags and only giving students 1/4 cup is that they could spread out all of their M&Ms and count them without ever opening the bag--no spilled M&Ms during our lesson!
I gave each person a bag. My student already sit in pairs, so each pair had to determine their M&M tax. I explained that I also like M&Ms and so I was going to tax them to get my share. The tax was different for each pair. The only tax law is that I get as many M&Ms as possible while taking the same number of each color M&M from each partner.
This becomes an analogy for factoring a GCF from an expression. I always have some students who struggle with the concept of a GCF with variables. If one term has an x squared term and another an x cubed term, they just hear "greatest" and want to take out the x cubed. They don't get to the word "common." So, I found it very helpful to have this concrete example. I was able to point them back to the M&M tax, and that was very helpful.
What I wish I'd done differently...actually take the common M&Ms from them. I was trying to be nice, but I missed out on some "concreteness" (pretty sure I made up that word) by not actually taking them.
What I wish I'd done differently...actually take the common M&Ms from them. I was trying to be nice, but I missed out on some "concreteness" (pretty sure I made up that word) by not actually taking them.