Engaging in a Math Debate

"One train may hide another."

Recently, Lisa, a sixth grade teacher sent me a link to this Amazing 6th Grade Math Work! blog post that she had written up to document a math debate that she released into her classroom around the difference between ratios and rates.  It's definitely worth reading her post, but if you don't have time, here's a synopsis...

Lisa began by admitting that, although she knew the official definitions of "ratio" and "rate," she wasn't sure what the practical difference was.  So, she put that out there and had her students research the terms, debate the differences and come up with a working definition that they summarized in a table.

After she sent this to me, I had some thoughts, too, and then the two of us debated back and forth over email a bit (for those of you who are riveted by such things, I'll paste these in at the end of this post).  Then, Lisa brought these ideas back to her students.