What’s Different?

            I was in a 6th-grade math class yesterday.  The instructor had put a similar illustration on the board – only the dimes and nickels were laid out in the same manner.  And three or four of the pennies were shinier than the one that is in the center of the pennies in the above illustration.  The instructor asked which set of coins was different and why?

            The first answer was logical for a math class.

            “The dimes are different because all of the other coins add up to 25 cents.  Five nickels make 25 cents.  25 pennies make 25 cents.  A single quarter makes 25 cents.  But five dimes make 50.”

            The instructor asked what might be some other possible answers.  It was interesting what answers were provided.

            “The pennies are different because Abraham Lincoln is looking in a different direction than the other three presidents”

            “The quarter is different because it’s all alone and the only one not divisible by 5 to get a whole number”

              “The pennies because they are a different material or color”

            The pennies also looked newer in her illustration whereas the quarter looks to be the newest in mine.

            I don’t think any of them stated that the nickels were different for any reason.

            My favorite answer was the dimes – not because they added up to a different number but the logic behind a different students answer.

            “The dimes are wrong because they look to be the same size as the nickel and that ain’t right”

            The experiment was to listen to and understand one another as we each have different points of view but there are things that we can learn if we will focus on ration or logic of others and not be so focused on only one way of looking at it.

            I thought that was an interesting concept for a math teacher to share as there is only one correct answer in math.