Problem of the Week - #2 - A Marching Strip

● Problem Statement:
○ Create a formula to measure the dimensions of a rectangular
area, then find the number of unit squares that a straight line
segment is drawn from the bottom left hand corner to the top
right hand corner.

● Process: A good Process should clearly describe all methods that

you tried in detail. If a method was unsuccessful, what did you learn
from it and how did it shape your next approach to the problem?
This section of your paper should outline your methods tried from
the start of this problem to the end, regardless of whether or not you
were able to find a solution. If you received assistance, describe how
it helped (or didn’t help) you and what ideas or methods resulted
from this assistance. This is for you to show me your thinking and the
direction that you went with the problem.
1. To start I read through the POW and looked it over, then pulled out all
of the important information and wrote it down.
2. Then I figured out that I think it has something to do with the sum of
the numerator and denominator, then that minus the difference
between the two might work.
3. I wrote out a formula that I think might work.
4. So I tried that out on the example and it worked, then on a few other
random numbers then drew them out to check if I was right. It worked
for the first 3,but on the fourth try my final numbers were different. I
also talked to John and it seemed like my original formula was wrong.
5. I went back to the drawing board and looked for patterns in my
numbers. A classmate also tipped me off that it had something to do
with the greatest common factor as well.
6. I wrote out the r+c, number of tiles, and greatest common factor and
looked for a pattern. Toby and I tried a few different things until we
typed in a formula into desmos that seemed to work for all of the
numbers we had. We tried a few different numbers and it worked for
all of them
7. To find the hournors formula I assigned letters to the cost of special
tiles and cost of normal tiles. Then I made a formula using the one I
just found and a new one that calculates the final number of tiles vs.
the special ones.

● Work:
○ Incorrect Work
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○ Correct Work
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● Solution:
○ Incorrect Solution
■ (r+c)-(c-r)
● (15+27)-(27-15)
42-12=30
○ Correct Solution
■ r+c-gcf(r,c)= # of special tiles
● 63+90-9(63,90)
○ 153-9=144
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● Evaluation:
○ I think this POW was fine, it was very simple to solve once I
found a pattern between the numerator and denominator.
Then how that played into the number of special tiles
compared to others. I think that it felt a little unfinished once
we found an answer. It could have been applied to something
bigger and better. I just don't know what. I think the starygies I
used were the best because we could use desmons and the
formula to see the number of special tiles no matter what c+r
are. So we can apply it to any situation where we need to find
the number of tiles. Also it worked for every situation we tried it
on and other solutions we found did not do this. Lastly
because it is a formula so it's not as time consuming as
counting every tile out individually would be.