Can You Debug These Math Problems?
Learners are presented with six solved mathematical problems and must work to debug these problems to determine which are solved correctly and which are not.
What You Need
- Debugging Math Sheet, cut out, in advance by facilitator (one per group)*
- Writing tool
- Piece of paper
*NOTE: There are two provided Debugging Math Sheets to cater to different audiences—one for Grades 1-2 and one for Grades 4-6. Be sure to select the right one for your audience.
Guide:
Safety Notes
- Ensure you are familiar with Let's Talk Science's precautions with respect to safe delivery of outreach to youth.
- For younger ages, ensure proper support is provided for cutting with scissors.
What To Do
- Ask educator to spilt learners into small groups (three to four learners) to work together.
- Give each group a pre-cut set of six math problems (from the Debugging Math Sheet template).
- Working in the groups, learners will solve the problems—sorting each problem into ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ piles.
- Learners then solve the problems in the incorrect pile, fixing them (debugging) and writing the correct answer on the card.
Discovery
Debugging is finding and correcting errors, referred to as bugs. Bugs in a computer program could be due to syntax errors (e.g. spelling mistakes) or logic errors. During the activity, learners use critical thinking skills to look at the problems and sort the problems into correct and incorrect piles. When they adjusted their way of thinking to correct the errors, they were debugging.
As technology advances, it is more important than ever that people contribute to the digital world. Building computational thinking skills, such as critical thinking and debugging, and strengthening understanding of computational thinking concepts, such as sequences, will help learners prepare for the future.
Critical thinking involves addressing complex problems by interpreting information to make informed judgments. This activity required learners to analyze the problem and decide what to do with the information they received. Being able to think critically is an important skill to have that helps learners become constructive citizens and interact with the world in meaningful ways. Knowing how to fix errors is an important skill for solving problems in the digital and physical world.
- Create a new question to get the same given answer.
- Develop new mathematical problems to share with someone and see if they can debug it.
What's Happening?
Debugging is finding and correcting errors, referred to as bugs. Bugs in a computer program could be due to syntax errors (e.g. spelling mistakes) or logic errors. During the activity, learners use critical thinking skills to look at the problems and sort the problems into correct and incorrect piles. When they adjusted their way of thinking to correct the errors, they were debugging.
Why Does It Matter?
As technology advances, it is more important than ever that people contribute to the digital world. Building computational thinking skills, such as critical thinking and debugging, and strengthening understanding of computational thinking concepts, such as sequences, will help learners prepare for the future.
Critical thinking involves addressing complex problems by interpreting information to make informed judgments. This activity required learners to analyze the problem and decide what to do with the information they received. Being able to think critically is an important skill to have that helps learners become constructive citizens and interact with the world in meaningful ways. Knowing how to fix errors is an important skill for solving problems in the digital and physical world.
Investigate Further
- Create a new question to get the same given answer.
- Develop new mathematical problems to share with someone and see if they can debug it.