Fermi Off-the-Wall Math League

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Fermi Off-the-Wall Math League
Welcome
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Fermi Off-the-Wall Math League

• Karen Newell
• Intermediate District 287
• Gifted Outreach Services
• Academic Services

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Fermi Scoring 40 points per week
10 points The BIG Answer 10 points The
List of Questions 10 points Metacognition/Solut
ion Proccess 10 points The Model (one
attachment or web link)
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A Fermi question is posed with limited
information given

• How many water balloons would it take fill
  the school gymnasium?
  
• What is the mass in potatoes of your class?
• How much newspaper would it take to slipcover
  Washingtons horse, Nelson?
• How much fabric is needed for a groundhogs
  bathrobe?

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Fermi Problems set kids to thinking about math in
their worlds..
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Fermi question requires that students ask many
more questions

• How big is a groundhog?
• How do I find out how much they weigh?
• What kind of bathrobes do they wear?
• Do I need to sew the bathrobe?
• From what fabric do I make a groundhog
  bathrobe?
• Is it a boy or girl groundhog?
• Does it matter?
• Is this too silly?

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Fermi Models Show What You Know
A weekly model is required to show what you have
learned or made regarding the problem. Sometimes
its a picture sent as a jpeg file.
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Sometimes its a drawing that has been scanned
and sent as a jpeg file.
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Sometimes its a picture of a poster that has
been taken with a digital camera. and sent as a
jpeg file.
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Grades 5-7 It could be a website

• Smart Cookie's Fermi             Math Website
• My Pages Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
  Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
•  

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Good models help show the mathematical thinking
that helped to solve the problem. They show
something about measuring, scaling, proportion
or numbers- and are always rounded off.
Fermi is very big on ZEROES.
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Can your guess what the question was?
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Twin Cities Marathon Route How many acres of
water did runners/rollers pass?
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We are popular with teachers. Sometimes.
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How Many Lincolns in the Trunk of a Lincoln?
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Hand-drawn vs. graphics-based
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Fermi Problems Require Metacognition

• It tells what you did first, and next and last.
• It tells where you got your answers.
• It tells what your assumptions are.
• It tells what was hard, easy, fun, new.
• a stretch, what you liked, who did what,
• what didnt work, and what did.
• and all the weirdness along the way

thinking about your thinking
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Four-week Fall Session begins September
30.Lets Rock!
Students need

• to be registered
• fees paid (35)
• access to internet
• access to technology
• a mentor or coach
• willingness to think
• outside the normal
• discipline of math

• ability to ask questions
• creativity and sense of
• fun with math
• willingness to take risks
• perseverance.

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