Shea Saulino Planning Platforms POW #2 Problem Statement In this POW (Problem of the Week) we were given a sheet

of paper with a word problem and some instructions following the problem. A shortened version of the problem would read like this: Kevin and Camilla are in charge of making platforms for a concert. Kevin has to decide how high each platform will be, the distance in height between them, and how many there will be. Camilla is in charge of finding the total length of material they need to cover the front of each platform. Come up with two equations that tell you, 1) the height of the tallest platform, and 2) the total length of material needed. We now had to find out the preliminary information; How high each platform will be, the distance between them, and how many there will be (we of course need Kevins information before we can work on Camillas dilemma).

Process First we (my group and I) began by finding Kevins preliminary data. We came up with variables for each: n= number of platforms d= distance between platforms f= height of first platform We were allowed to come up with numbers ourselves, so I plugged in my numbers for each variable: n= number of platforms (5) d= distance between platforms (2 ft.)

f= height of first platform (2 ft.) Then I could begin working on the equation. I started by trying out using just numbers to find the equation and realized that doing this wouldnt help my process since I had no variable representation and scrapped that and began to use my variables instead of my numbers for a more accurate equation. Heres what I tried first: (platform) pl=curr(current platform)+d= the answer. This equation does work because my distance

is equal to the rate of change in my platforms. But if it wasn't Well then it wouldnt work. Eventually Mr. Corner explained this equation to Jenna: Height of One Tower=Tower#-1xD+F So now I got to work on the next equation. I realized right away that the total length of all the platforms combined would equal the length of material needed, but since we had to come up with an equation, I couldnt pass on this. So I tried and tried and tried and worked with a few different people to find the equation. Finally we figured this one out: __________________________________

Solution Here are the equations: Height of the tallest tower= Length of material needed=

Reflection Two Habits of a Mathematician I used in this problem were:

1) Visualise I used Visualise throughout this entire problem by drawing out the platforms and visually representing the distance in height between them. 2) Experiment through Conjectures I used Experiment through Conjectures for sure. I had to continuously experiment throughout this entire problem as well. I would also call it Trial and Error because there was a ton of that going on.