Fostering Algebraic Thinking in Five Minutes a Day!

1. Day 1
5-Minutes

2. (Driscoll, 1999)
• Maria has a red candle and
a green candle. Each
candle is 18 centimeters
long. Maria lights each
candle at the same time.
The red candle takes 6
hours to burn out, but the
green candle takes 3 hours
to burn out.
• After one hour of
burning, which candle is
longer? How much longer?

3. Day 2
5-Minutes

4. (Driscoll, 1999)
• Maria has a red candle and
a green candle. Each
candle is 18 centimeters
long. Maria lights each
candle at the same time.
The red candle takes 6
hours to burn out, but the
green candle takes 3 hours
to burn out.
• How much time will pass
until one of the candles is
exactly twice as long as
the other?

5. Day 3
5-Minutes

6. (Driscoll, 1999)
• Maria lights two candles at
the same time. Each
Candle is 36 centimeters
long. One candle takes 3
hours to burn out and the
other takes 6 hours to burn
out.
• How much time will pass
until the slower-burning
candle is exactly twice as
long as the faster-burning
one?

7. Day 4
5-10 minutes

8. (Driscoll, 1999)
• Maria lights two candles
of equal length at the
same time. One candle
takes 6 hours to burn out
and the other takes 9.
• How much time will pass
until the slower-burning
candle is exactly twice as
long as the faster-
burning one?