SESSION OBJECTIVES

• Define mathematical investigation

• Recognize the importance of mathematical investigation
for both teachers and the learners.
• Formulate questions given a mathematical situation
• Make and test conjectures
 A Numerate Census Taker
A census taker knocks on a door. A mother answers.

The census taker says, "I need to know the number of

children you have, and their ages."

The woman responds in puzzle-ese, "I have three

daughters, the product of their ages is 36, and the sum of
their ages is equal to the house number next door."
The census taker, who never wastes questions, computes
for a while and then asks, "Does your oldest daughter love
dogs?"

The mother answers affirmatively.

The census taker says, "Thank you. I now know the ages."

What are the ages of the daughters?

Source: Tuklas Matematika Online Vol. 19, Number 1
Census taker: Does your oldest daughter love dogs?
Mother: Yes.
Triple Sum Triple Sum
{36,1,1} 38 {9,2,2} 13
{18,2,1} 21 {6,6,1} 13
{12,3,1} 16 {6,3,2} 11
{9,4,1} 14 {4,3,3} 10

The daughters are 9, 2, and 2 years old.

The number 36 has the following property...
it is a number for which there exist
exactly two sets of three positive integers
the product of the integers of each set is 36
and their sums are equal.
In honor of that numerate census taker, we call
numbers like 36...
census-taker number.
Few questions for further exploration...
❑ Are there any other census-taker numbers?
❑ What are some properties of the pair of triples?
❑ Can they have a common element?
❑ Can a prime or power of prime be a census-
taker number?
❑ What can we say about the factors of a census-
taker number?
❑ Are there finitely or infinitely many census-taker
numbers?
There are several pedagogical approaches to the
teaching/learning of mathematics with emphasis on problem
solving and critical thinking:

✓ problem-based
✓ Modeling
✓ inquiry-based
✓ Discovery
✓ and many more.
In thinking process, we would like our learners to...
• explore spontaneously and systematically
• gather and record data
• interpret and express findings informally
• pose problems
• identify patterns
In thinking process, we would like our learners to...
• symbolize
• formalize and specialize generalizations
• pose conjectures
• explain and justify
• communicate findings
What is mathematical
investigation?
Bastow, Hughes, Kissane and Mortlock (1991)

Mathematical investigation is the

systematic exploration of open
situations that have mathematical
features.
Lee and Miller (1997)

Investigations, by their nature,

demand an open-minded,
multifaceted approach.
Delaney (1996)
Mathematical investigation is an open-
ended problem or statement that
leads itself to the possibility of
multiple mathematical pathways being
explored, leading to a variety of
mathematical ideas and/or solutions.
Ernest (1991)
He described investigation as the
exploration of an unknown land
where the journey, not the
destination, is the goal.
 The open-endedness of
mathematical investigation widens
the ingenuity and horizon of the
learners.
STARS
Each of the 6 equally spaced points on
this circle has been joined to a point that
is 2 units away from it in clockwise
direction. The result can be called a [n,p]
figure.

Equally spaced points on a circle can be joined by chords in

various ways.
Investigate.
STAGES IN MATHEMATICS INVESTIGATION
Summarizing
Elaborating
Reorganizing
Exploring/Justifying Conjectures
Testing Conjectures
Making Conjectures
Exploring Systematically
Getting Started
Getting Started
✓ Getting familiarity with the situation to be
investigated.
✓ Producing instances, like starting from the
simplest or whatever is interesting
✓ Deciding on what is worth attainable
STARS
Each of the 6 equally spaced points on
this circle has been joined to a point that
is 2 units away from it in clockwise
direction. The result can be called a [n,p]
figure.

Equally spaced points on a circle can be joined by chords in

various ways.
Investigate.
Aspects/Problems Considered
In what different ways can you join the points? What
types of figures do you get?
➢ What do you get if each point is joined to the next to
it, i.e. one point away from it?
➢ What happens if each point is joined to the point two
away from it? Three away from it? And so on.
➢ How do your results depend on the number of
points?
Exploring Systematically
✓ Systematic listing/drawing
✓ Organizing relationships in tables or
graphs
✓ Looking for pattern or relationship
Methods of attack used

➢ Draw a diagram

➢ Looking for a pattern

Data obtained
If the six (6) equally spaced points on the
circle has been joined to a point that is p
point/s away in a clockwise direction, the
result can be called an [6,p] figure.
Data obtained
Patterns/Relationships
Patterns/Relationships
Patterns/Relationships
Number of Points Number of Regions Number of Chords
Away
0 1 0
1 7 6
2 13 6
3 6 3
4 13 6
5 7 6
Making Conjectures
✓ A conjecture is a generalization obtained
inductively, which has not been validated
or proven true.
✓ Making general statements about patterns
or relationships observed in the cases
considered.
From the patterns observed in predicting what figure will be
drawn for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

A. If the number of points away is a

multiple of six (6), then the figure that
will be drawn is a circle.
From the patterns observed in predicting what figure will be
drawn for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

B. If the number of points away is a

multiple of three (3) and is not a
multiple of six (6), then the figure that
will be drawn is a Wheel’s Spoke.
From the patterns observed in predicting what figure will be
drawn for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

C. If the number of points away is even

and is not a multiple of six (6) and three
(3), then the figure that will be drawn is
a Star.
From the patterns observed in predicting what figure will be
drawn for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

D. If the number of points away is odd and

is not a multiple of three (3), then the
figure that will be drawn is a Hexagon.
From the patterns observed in predicting the number of the
region/s for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

E. If the number of points away is a

multiple of six (6), then the number of
region of the figure is one (1).
From the patterns observed in predicting the number of the
region/s for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

F. If the number of points away is a

multiple of three (3) and is not a
multiple of six (6), then the number of
region of the figure are six (6).
From the patterns observed in predicting the number of the
region/s for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

G. If the number of points away is even,

and is not a multiple of six (6) and three
(3), then the regions of the figure are
thirteen (13).
From the patterns observed in predicting the number of the
region/s for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

H. If the number of points away is odd,

and is not a multiple of three (3), then
the regions of the figure are seven (7).
From the patterns observed in determining the number of
chords for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

I. If the number of points away is a

multiple of six (6), then the number of
chords of the figure is zero (0).
From the patterns observed in determining the number of
chords for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

J. If the number of points away is a multiple of

three (3) and is not a multiple of six (6),
then the number of chords of the figure are
three (3).
From the patterns observed in determining the number of
chords for a particular [6,p] figure, the following conjectures
were made.

K. If the number of points away is even or odd

and is not a multiple of six (6) and three (3),
then the number of chords of the figure are
six (6).
Testing Conjectures
✓ Checking consistency of conjectures using
existing cases
✓ Predicting results for untied cases for
which data are available
Conjecture A
If the number of points away is a multiple of six (6),
then the figure that will be drawn is a Circle.

To test this conjecture we should try the values of p

(points away) which are multiples of six (6).
 The conjecture has been supported but
not yet justified.
Explaining/Justifying Conjectures
✓ Explaining why the conjectures made will
work for new or all cases.
Conjectures A, E & I
The multiples of six (6), as points away, are said to
form a figure of circle since, if we are going to connect the
six equally spaced points in a circle, say for instance 0
point away, 6 points away, 12 points away and the other
multiples of six, the initial point will also be its terminal
point. Thus, a figure of circle will be formed. This idea
follows that the region/s and chord/s formed for the
multiples of six (6) are 1 & 0 respectively.
Reorganizing
✓ Simplifying/generalizing the approach
✓ Seeing the connection among the
conjecture
Let 𝑝 be the number of points away. If 𝑝 is a
multiple of 6, then
i. the figure will be drawn is a circle;
ii. the number of region of the figure is 1; and
iii. the number of chords of the figure is 0.
Elaborating
✓ Extending the investigation by considering
other aspects of the investigation
Questions for further investigation….
Apply the [n,p] notation to your findings for a particular
number of points

▪ What do you notice about the results?

▪ Are the results different for each value of p?
▪ What different values of p result in identical
figures?
▪ Which figures start and finish at the same point,
and involve every other point in the process?
▪ Which figures involve overlapping figures?
▪ Which figures look like the spokes of a wheel?
▪ For what values of p can figures be drawn?
Summarizing
✓ Making oral or written summary of what
has been obtained in the investigation
from exploring systematically to
elaborating stage.
Contents of an investigation
✓ an introduction

✓ list of all questions you raised, including those for which

you may not have achieved a conclusive result or finding

✓ information about the investigation - its origin, the method

of attack, the data obtained, conjectures made, the testing
of conjectures, any justification
Contents of an investigation (cont.)

✓ Conclusion - an outline of your findings (even if they were

not conclusive), possible extensions or associated
investigations
Consecutive Wasteful
Sums Numbers
Happy
Numbers
Post Office Piles of Coins

Tens and Units Unit Fractions

Consecutive Sums
Some numbers can be expressed as the
sum of consecutive positive integers.
9=2+3+4
11 = 5 + 6
18 = 3 + 4 + 5 + 6
Investigate.
Post Office
A particularly quirky post office clerk sells only 7-
cent stamps and 9-cent stamps.

Investigate.
Tens and Units
Choose any two-digit number as the first term in a sequence.
Add its tens digit to twice its units digit to get the second term
of the sequence.

Repeat this process to get the third term from the second
term.

Investigate.
Happy Numbers
Think of a number. Square each of its digit and add the
squares to get a second number. Square the digits of the
second number and add the squares to get the third number.

Continue in this way to get a sequence. If a sequence

reaches the number 1, then the original number is called
happy. If not, it is called sad.

Investigate.
Piles of Coins
Start with two unequal piles of coins. Shift enough
coins from the larger pile to the smaller pile so that the
smaller one doubles in size.

Continue to change the piles in this way.

Investigate.
Unit Fractions
Unit fractions are fractions whose numerators are 1,
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
such as , ,
𝟐 𝟑 𝟒
etc.

Investigate.
Wasteful Numbers
A number 𝒏 is called wasteful if the number of digits in
its prime factorization (including exponents greater
than 1) is greater than the number of digits of 𝒏.
𝟒 = 𝟐𝟐 (the factorization uses 2 digits)
𝟔 = 𝟐 ⋅ 𝟑 (the factorization uses 2 digits)
𝟖 = 𝟐𝟑 (the factorization uses 2 digits)
Investigate.
You have to keep your eyes and heart
open – there are always new things to
discover, new problems to solve.

-Donna Karan