#MathStratChat - December 24, 2025

In today’s MathStratChat, Pam and Kim discuss the MathStratChat problem shared on social media on December 24, 2025. 

Note: It’s more fun if you try to solve the problem, share it on social media, comment on others strategies, before you listen to Pam and Kim’s strategies.

Check out #MathStratChat on your favorite social media site and join in the conversation.

Twitter: @PWHarris

Instagram: Pam Harris_math

Facebook: Pam Harris, author, mathematics education 

Transcript

Pam  0:00  
Hey, fellow mathers! Welcome to the podcast where Math is Figure-Out-Able. We are on our last recording of the day, where we've recorded several podcasts, so this has a chance to be super (unclear) or good, one of the two. I'm Pam Harris.

Kim  0:17  
And I'm Kim Montague.

Pam  0:18  
And this is our MathStratChat episode. We're really glad it's the last one. Where we chat about our math strategies. Every Wednesday evening, I throw out a math problem on social media, and people from around the world chat about the strategies they use and comment on each other's thinking.

Kim  0:31  
Okay, so this Wednesday, our math problem is, appropriately, 12 times 24 for December 24th.

Pam  0:39  
December 24th.

Kim  0:40  
Yeah. How would you like to solve this problem? Pause, go solve it for real, and then come back to hear how we're going to solve it.

Pam  0:48  
Y'all, 12/24 is when this episode drops, so we thought 12 times 24 would be fun to do. Kim, I'm going to make you go first. I'm going to invite you. I'm going to invite you to go first.

Kim  0:58  
Thank you. What if I want to Double Halve. So I can like double 12, and halve...

Okay. 

Pam  1:05  
Kim! So, that's a joke, everybody, right? Because if you double 12 and halve the 24, then you end up with 24 times 12. 

Kim  1:09  
Indeed.

Pam  1:09  
Same problem.

Kim  1:09  
Okay. Alright, here's what I'm going to do. I noticed that 24 is made up of a 12 times 2.

Pam  1:21  
Okay.

Kim  1:21  
So, I wrote down the problem, and then below the problem, I wrote 12 times 12 times 2. 

Pam  1:26  
Oh, nice.

Kim  1:27  
And that's nice because I know 12 times 12 is 144.

Pam  1:31  
Mmhm.

Kim  1:31  
And then I just doubled that to get 288.

Pam  1:32  
That's brilliant. I would not have thought of that. I want my brain to think of that next time. I like it. 

Kim  1:38  
Alright, what you got? 

Pam  1:40  
I looked at that 24 and it felt like 25. Maybe because I'm looking forward to Christmas. Could that be?

Kim  1:55  
Yeah, maybe.

Pam  1:55  
I like Christmas. My kids are all going to be here, Whoop, whoop. Actually, two get here the day after, but it's close enough. 

Kim  1:55  
It's good enough. 

Pam  1:55  
So, I'm thinking about 25 times 12, and then I will just have an extra 12. To think about 25 times 12, I'm actually going to find a quarter of 12. Quarter of 12 is 3. So, 25 times 12 would be 300.

Kim  2:07  
Yeah.

Pam  2:08  
And but I still have that extra 12, so I've got a backup 12 from 300. Play little I Have, You Need to get 288. Bam.

Kim  2:15  
Nice. I like it. 

Pam  2:15  
That was fun for me to play with. 

Kim  2:17  
I like when you do a quarter of something, rather than think about quarters.

Pam  2:21  
Quarters.

Kim  2:22  
Yeah.

Pam  2:22  
Yeah. Maybe someday I should try to think about quarters more, and you could try to think about...

Kim  2:28  
Yeah.

Pam  2:29  
Point 25, or a quarter of something. 

Kim  2:30  
Yeah. I mean, unless... If it's in fraction form, then, you know, clearly I do. But thinking about 25 as a quarter of something and scaling. (unclear).

Pam  2:38  
Let me see if I can do that. So, if I think about 25 quarters, then 4 of them.

Kim  2:45  
Wait, wait, wait 12 quarters. You said 25 quarters. 

Pam  2:50  
You're right. Thank you. Thank you. I'm thinking about 12 quarters. 

Kim  2:51  
Mmhm.

Pam  2:51  
4 of those quarters make $1.00. So, how many dollars would I'd have? I've had $3.00. So, then 25 times 12 is 300. Yeah, you're right. My brain doesn't do that as...

Kim  2:58  
I think our grade levels are showing. Okay. We can't wait to see what you do every week. We love MathStratChat. We love when you join us and let us know how you're thinking. But also we love when you comment and prop up other people's strategies.

Pam  3:13  
Yeah, it's a great way to make a mathematical community around the world. I'll post the problems on Wednesdays around 7:00 p.m. Central, when I remember. And when you answer, tag me, and use the hashtag MathStratChat. Then join us here to hear how we're thinking about the problem. We love having you as part of the Math is Figure-Out-Able movement. And, y'all, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! Because Math is Figure-Out-Able!