Author Topic: Finally did 1 vs. 100 (Read 2643 times)

Jay Temple · « **on:** December 10, 2010, 12:32:00 AM »

When I resumed teaching college last year, I really wanted to do a review session with the 1 vs. 100 format. Unfortunately, we didn't even have time to cover all the material in the syllabus.

This semester, I taught a 4-credit course, and I covered everything with time to spare, so I finally got to do it. Some of the questions were straightforward ("What's the coefficient on the 4th term of ...") but others were more in the usual style:

"Dr. Doofenshmirtz wants to know if a quadratic equation's solutions are real or imaginary. Which evil contraption should he use: a) the Determinator 4000; b) the Discriminator 5000; c) the Defibrulator 6000."

"Which of the conic sections does Halley's Comet's path most nearly resemble? a) an ellipse; b) a hyperbola; c) a parabola."

The scale was:
eliminate all 12 classmates, 25 bonus points
reduce the field to 1, 15 pts
reduce to 3, 10 pts
reduce to 6, 5 pts
The only time the 1 missed, he didn't have any points to lose. I chose the new 1 from the surviving mob each time. And they all seemed to find it fun and worthwhile at the same time.

dale_grass · « **Reply #1 on:** December 10, 2010, 12:37:52 AM »

Very nice.

The only time I could get a lib ed college math class really involved was when we went surfing YouTube for pricing games and talked about the probability of winning at certain points.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2010, 05:11:44 AM »

Were you at least able to use fluorescent blacklights and glo-sticks to simulate the dark set? ;-)

Seriously, sounds pretty cool!

MikeK · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2010, 04:56:00 PM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'252295\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 12:37 AM\']The only time I could get a lib ed college math class really involved was when we went surfing YouTube for pricing games and talked about the probability of winning at certain points.[/quote]
I tried doing that with a class of three students the day before Thanksgiving break two and a half weeks ago, but we watched that day's TPiR since it took up almost the entire class period. I headdesk'ed when one of the students asked me "What does The Price is Right have to do with math?"

Year after year, Deal or No Deal is a hit in my class.

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2010, 05:15:11 PM »

See, when I was in school, the most creative anyone got was Jeopardy. 1 vs. 100 is brilliant.

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'252294\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 12:32 AM\']"Dr. Doofenshmirtz wants to know if a quadratic equation's solutions are real or imaginary. Which evil contraption should he use: a) the Determinator 4000; b) the Discriminator 5000; c) the Defibrulator 6000."[/quote]
Obligatory relevant Phineas and Ferb reference.

[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'252303\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 04:56 PM\']I tried doing that with a class of three students the day before Thanksgiving break two and a half weeks ago, but we watched that day's TPiR since it took up almost the entire class period. I headdesk'ed when one of the students asked me "What does The Price is Right have to do with math?"[/quote]
Hit Me says hi.

MikeK · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2010, 08:45:41 PM »

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'252294\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 12:32 AM\']"Dr. Doofenshmirtz wants to know if a quadratic equation's solutions are real or imaginary. Which evil contraption should he use: a) the Determinator 4000; b) the Discriminator 5000; c) the Defibrulator 6000."[/quote]
I missed this. Very nice. My Algebra II classes did a lesson on determinants, which I mistakenly called discriminants, today. It's an easy mistake to make, especially when someone's pre-calculus class talked about discriminants not too long ago.

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\'][quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'252303\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 04:56 PM\']I tried doing that with a class of three students the day before Thanksgiving break two and a half weeks ago, but we watched that day's TPiR since it took up almost the entire class period. I headdesk'ed when one of the students asked me "What does The Price is Right have to do with math?"[/quote]
Hit Me says hi.[/quote]
You chose a retired game for this?! Most every pricing game says hi. The Showcase Showdown says hi. The Showcases say hi. The taxman says hi, when he wants his share by April 15 of the following calendar year. My mentioning of the many aspects of TPiR math almost drove my students to change the channel to The View until I told them if I see a single moment of the class without TPiR on-screen, that my students would get homework for Thanksgiving break. ;-)

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2010, 09:03:13 PM »

[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'252309\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 08:45 PM\']You chose a retired game for this?![/quote]The only reason I chose Hit Me is because contestants couldn't grasp (price * 10) = ends in 0, then (price * 1) = price, select those two and instant winner.

There are many other good examples....Grocery Game/Bullseye/Check-Out, but yeah, nearly all the games on Price require math. Time for some Pay The Rent dissection!

Jay Temple · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2010, 10:55:05 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'252297\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 04:11 AM\']Were you at least able to use fluorescent blacklights and glo-sticks to simulate the dark set? ;-)

Seriously, sounds pretty cool![/quote]
No, but I put the questions and answers in a PowerPoint presentation. If I do it again, I'll check the main color and background. (The last time I taught college before this, PowerPoint didn't exist.)

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'252304\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 04:15 PM\']See, when I was in school, the most creative anyone got was Jeopardy. 1 vs. 100 is brilliant[/quote]
Thank you! I've done J! too. I can't quite explain why they responded better to this one. Part of it may be that I stuck to the humorous style of writing.

[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'252309\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 07:45 PM\']I missed this. Very nice. My Algebra II classes did a lesson on determinants, which I mistakenly called discriminants, today. It's an easy mistake to make, especially when someone's pre-calculus class talked about discriminants not too long ago.[/quote]
I had to be careful myself, since matrices are on the test as well.

About determinants and matrices: Some years ago, J!'s College Tournament had THE MATRIX as a category. I was disappointed that it really was about the movie(s) and not about matrices. I thought a college group could have handled it. On the J! message board, I even posted a full category that I wrote. I'm sure I included determinants, and I almost certainly had the clue, "Two square matrices can do this; two 3 x 2 matrices or two mules can't." (Q: What is multiply?)

dale_grass · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2010, 11:23:19 PM »

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'252314\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 11:55 PM\']On the J! message board, I even posted a full category that I wrote. I'm sure I included determinants, and I almost certainly had the clue, "Two square matrices can do this; two 3 x 2 matrices or two mules can't." (Q: What is multiply?)[/quote]
How the hell do you invert a mule?

\Wait, there was this girl in Mexico City...

clemon79 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 11, 2010, 02:16:37 AM »

[quote name=\'dale_grass\' post=\'252315\' date=\'Dec 10 2010, 08:23 PM\']How the hell do you invert a mule?

\Wait, there was this girl in Mexico City...[/quote]
Sorry, we weren't paying attention...