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XY Encounter

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Teacher's Guide: Part 4: Pause Point 1

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Map of Teacher's Guide	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Part 4
	Introduction	Introduction	Introduction	Introduction
	Pause Point 1	Pause Point 1	Pause Point 1	Pause Point 1
	Pause Point 2	Conclusion	Pause Point 2	Conclusion
	Pause Point 3		Conclusion
	Conclusion

Key Phrase:

“Nosotros vamos. Ustedes van.” as Keisha stops studying Spanish.
[Clip 1 ends with the sheet lying on the computer keyboard.]

Distribute activity sheet, “I’ve Got Your Number” (.pdf format). There are 7 teardrop shapes, the decimal 3.5, and the improper fraction, 14/4 on this sheet.
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Challenge student’s thinking. Ask them:

• What strategies would you use to investigate the shapes on the top of the worksheet? [Visualize them put together. Cut them out and arrange them.]
• Direct the students to take a few minutes to see what the numerical clues might have in common. How are they alike? How are they different? [Encourage students to describe and compare them in many different ways. They should realize that both the teardrop shapes and the numerical values are equivalent to 3 1/2.]
• Have students describe the two circles at the bottom of the page. Note: The bottom two circles are additional clues to a message from the alien and are not related mathematically. [The circle with the arrow pointing up and the circle with 1/4 partitioned off. A circle showing 1/4 can also be a circle showing 3/4, or a complete circle showing 1/4 + 3/4.]