GROUP 8

MEMBERS:

VICMAR L. TRINIDAD
CARMELA P. WENCESLAO
PAULA S. TABIGUE
BABY GIE TAUSA
KAREEN JOY S. TIPUDAN

COURSE: BSEDMATH 3
SUBJECT: MATH 138: PROBLEM SOLVING, MATHEMATICAL INVESTIGATION AND
MODELLING

DATE:
SUBMITTED TO: DONELL CERENO
 TASK 3

Math Investigation on Pythagorean Triads

Find the answer: Can you find another Pythagorean Triad? Use the steps discussed above to
complete the investigation of the following:

The Pythagorean Theorem states that a 2+ b 2 = c 2

Where a = shortest side; c = hypotenuse

A Pythagorean triad as defined is a set of three counting numbers that conforms with the
Pythagorean theorem.

For example: a = 3, b = 4, c = 5

a2 + b2 = c2
32 + 4 2 = 52
9+ 16 = 25
25 = 25

Find another Pythagorean triad.

Can we find a Pythagorean Triad starting with 7?

a b a2 b2 c2 c
7 8 49 64 113 10.6301
7 9 49 81 130 11.4081
7 10 49 100 149 12.2066
7 11 49 121 170 13.0834
7 12 49 144 193 13.8924
7 13 49 169 218 14.7648
7 14 49 195 244 15.6205
7 15 49 225 274 16.5529
7 16 49 256 305 17.4642
7 17 49 289 338 18.3848
7 18 49 324 373 19.3132
7 19 49 361 410 20.2485
7 20 49 400 449 21.1896
7 21 49 441 490 22.1359
7 22 49 484 533 23.0868
7 23 49 529 578 24.0416
7 24 49 572 625 25

The Pythagorean Triad where ‘a’ = 7 is 7, 24, 25

Look for patterns

Can we see a pattern in the Pythagorean Triads found so far?

For example c = b + 1 and b + c = a 2

a b c
3 4 5
5 12 13
 7 24 25

Conjecture
Can we use this pattern to find the Pythagorean triad for the next prime number which is 11.
Testing conjecture

If a = 11, then b + c = 112 = 121 and c = b+1 we need to find two consecutive numbers which add
up to 121

The Pythagorean triad is 11. 60, 61

Test again
Can we use this pattern to find the Pythagorean Triad beginning with the next prime number
which is 13?

If a = 13, then b + c = 132= 169 and if c = b + 1 we need to find two consecutive numbers
which add up to 169 (e.g. b + b + 1 = 169 so 2b = 168 therefore b = 84 and c = 85.
The Pythorean triad is 13, 84, 85.

Reference:
Green, Wally (1998), Problems and Investigations, Department of Education PNG

Honsberger, Ross (1997), In Polya’s Footsteps: Miscellaneous Problems and Essays. The
Mathematics Association of America.
TASK 4

Mathematical Investigation
(Writing Task)

1. What comprises a mathematical investigation? Discuss

Answer:
  Mathematical investigation refers to the sustained exploration of a mathematical
situation. It distinguishes itself from problem solving because it is open-ended.

The mathematical processes that support effective learning in mathematics are as follows:
• problem solving
• reasoning and proving
• reflecting
• selecting tools and computational strategies
• connecting
• representing
• communicating
The mathematical processes can be seen as the processes through which students acquire and
apply mathematical knowledge and skills. These processes are interconnected. Problem solving
and communicating have strong links to all the other processes. A problem-solving approach
encourages students to reason their way to a solution or a new understanding. As students engage
in reasoning, teachers further encourage them to make conjectures and justify solutions, orally
and in writing. The communication and reflection that occur during and after the process of
problem-solving help students not only to articulate and refine their thinking but also to see the
problem they are solving from different perspectives. This opens the door to recognizing the
range of strategies that can be used to arrive at a solution. By seeing how others solve a problem,
students can begin to reflect on their own thinking (a process known as “metacognition”) and the
thinking of others, and to consciously adjust their own strategies in order to make their solutions
as efficient and accurate as possible. The mathematical processes cannot be separated from the
knowledge and skills that students acquire throughout the year. Students must problem solve,
communicate, reason, reflect, and so on, as they develop the knowledge, the understanding of
concepts, and the skills required in all the strands in every grade.
www.edu.gov.on.ca>eng>elementary>math18curr

2. Is problem solving in math related to mathematical investigation? Discuss

Answer:
Relationship between Problem Solving and Investigation as Processes the second issue is how
investigation is related to heuristics. Generally speaking, problem-solving heuristics can be
divided into two broad categories. The first category involves any form of specialization. For
example, if students draw a diagram or use systematic listing to examine specific examples, then
this is mathematical investigation. The second category does not involve any specialization. For
example, if students use deductive reasoning directly, then this is not an investigation. But what
about establishing a sub goal as a heuristic to solve a problem? By itself, this is not an
investigation. The question is what happens after establishing a sub goal. If the students use
deductive reasoning to achieve the sub goal, then this is not an investigation. However, if the
students use some form of specialization in order to attain the subsoil, then this is mathematical
investigation. Therefore, using heuristics to solve problems are similar to solving problems by
investigation or by „other means‟. Although this alternative view of the relationship between
investigation and problem solving seldom appears in literature, there is evidence that some
writers have almost the same idea but phrased in a different way. For example, advocated using
what he called heuristic reasoning when solving problem, as opposed to using rigorous proof.
“Heuristic reasoning is often based on induction or on analogy
Problem solving is a convergent activity. It has definite goal – the solution of the problem.
Mathematical investigation on the other hand is more of a divergent activity. In mathematical
investigations, students are expected to pose their own problems after initial exploration of the
mathematical situation. The exploration of the situation, the formulation of problems and its
solution give opportunity for the development of independent mathematical thinking and in
engaging in mathematical processes such as organizing and recording data, pattern searching,
conjecturing, inferring, justifying and explaining conjectures and generalizations. It is these
thinking processes which enable an individual to learn more mathematics, apply mathematics in
other discipline and in everyday situation and to solve mathematical (and non-mathematical)
problems.
Teaching through mathematical investigation allows for students to learn about mathematics,
especially the nature of mathematical activity and thinking. It also makes them realize that
learning mathematics involves intuition, systematic exploration, conjecturing and reasoning, etc.
and not about memorizing and following existing procedures. The ultimate aim of mathematical
investigation is develop students’ mathematical habits of mind.
Therefore, problem solving is related to mathematical investigation because once you have to
solve a problem there comes mathematical investigation to which helps you to know more on
what are you going to do first or more. Mathematical investigation helps us to think critically to
solve our problems.
math4teaching.com> Curriculum Reform

3. Is problem posing a component of investigation? Discuss

Answer:
There are many types of problem posing. Problem “posing can occur before, during, or after the
solution of a problem” Problem posing can also occur when a task asks the students to pose an
original, interesting and complex „word problem‟ that satisfy some given conditions
However, in this section, we are interested in problem posing whose main purpose is to generate
new problems to solve, e.g., at the start of an open investigative task, or during extension of a
problem-solving task. The main issue to be addressed here is, “Does investigation involve
problem posing?” We will use two analogies. The first analogy is a real-life example of cooking
before you can cook; you need to plan the menu, buy the ingredients and prepare them (unless
you have a kitchen hand to do that for you). After cooking, you need to scoop the food onto a
dish and perhaps decorate the food to make it more presentable. Thus, to cook a dish, you need
to do more than just the mere process of cooking.
Problem posing is a component of investigation because investigation is a mathematical process
where it intended to stimulate students in asking questions, to trigger their thinking processes, to
promote their ability to investigate and to support them in learning numerical analysis concepts
and procedures while posing questions occurred mainly in an implicit way, in the interpretation
of the tasks. All of these show opportunities to students to experience posing question that will
prove the results.
They also provide some understanding about the role of problem posing in these processes.
Posing questions occurred mainly in an implicit way, in the interpretation of tasks and in
identifying regularities, analyzing graphs and testing cases. The conjectures were often based on
pattern identification or data manipulation and the students tended to accept them without testing
or proving. The students also proposed alternative formulations for the initial questions and
posed new problems from their explorations and attempts to refine previous conjectures.
Problem posing may be regarded as emphasizing the formulation of a key problem that
hopefully will trigger an extended and productive mathematical activity, leading to its solution.
But problem posing may also be regarded as the constant process of posing questions, that
permeates any authentic mathematical activity, and that generates both key and subsidiary
questions. One must note that sometimes subsidiary questions become central and sometimes
key questions become dead ends. Adopting this second view, we see mathematical
investigations as providing particularly rich opportunities for problem posing.

Reference:
1 Ponte, J. P., & Henrique’s, A. (2013). Problem posing based on investigation activities by
university students. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 83(1), 145-156.
4. Write about an experience you had on mathematical investigation in high school or during
your early years in college. Include in your discussions the constraints and enabling factors and
the valuable insights you gained.

Answer:
When I was in high school years I experienced the in the real life experience when my teacher
task me on how to solve the parameter of integer and make the process of it. For example, if there
is an integer parameter n in the problem statement, the special cases are when n = 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. but
what is so special about these cases in defining the process of specialization more broadly to
include the examination of both special cases and specific examples. Therefore, mathematical
investigation involves the process of specializations in order to generalize. The third issue is the use
of the term „justification‟ as a core process in mathematical investigation. Justification only occurs
when a conjecture is proven. But students will not know beforehand whether a conjecture is true or
false, and so they will engage in the testing of conjectures during an investigation. If the conjecture is
found to be false, then it is refuted; if it is found to be true, then it is proven or justified. Thus, in
mathematical investigation, a conjecture is to be tested.

For example, if the students try to solve the problem in Task 3 by starting with a smaller number of
participants in order to find a pattern for the total number of handshakes, then they have engaged in
specializations, conjecturing, justification and generalization, which is mathematical investigation
However, if the students argue that the total number of handshakes must be 99 + 98 + 97 + … + 1
because the first participant must shake hand with the other 99 participants, the second participant
must shake hand with the remaining 98 participants and so forth, then the students have used
deductive reasoning and this is not mathematical investigation. Some high-ability students may also
use a formal proof directly and this is also not investigation.