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Last week I got a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register.
I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me back two quarters, but
she hailed the manager for help and while he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.
Why do I tell you this? Read on...
Teaching Math in 1950:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1960:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80.
What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1970:
A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money.
The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar.
Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M."
The set "C", the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set "M."
Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M".
Answer this question:
What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?
Teaching Math in 1980:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20.
Your assignment:
Underline the number 20.
Teaching Math in 1990:
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20.
What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question:
How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees?
There are no wrong answers.
Teaching Math in 2000:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
His cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Andersen determine that his profit margin is $60 ?
Teaching Math in 2005:
El hachero vende un camion carga por $100.
La cuesta de produccion es.............
"Be excellent to each other, and, party on dudes"!
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I was CRAP at math in school, I didn't 'get' most stuff beyond the algebra level (differential equations, complex numbers, integrals etc gives me the willies when awake and nightmares when asleep, lol), but basic transactions that I can actually do. Hehe.
It's not hard to understand the poor girl's reaction though, she's probably feeling stressed and vulnerable, maybe there's a line forming behind your back of irritated customers. Maybe she just suffered a temporary mental block.
On the other hand, some Americans basically seem to be a lost generation, from an intelligence standpoint.  I watched the first episode of that Paris Hilton reality show (no, NOT her porno tape, hahaha - eeeeewwwww! She's such a bony bitch, I wouldn't ever want to see her naked), and when she asks - for real - what a well is, you start to wonder if a total global thermonuclear war wouldn't be the best solution to our problems after all.
Loved those maths tests, by the way. If our Swedish maths tests were like those ones I could actually have been pretty good at maths, hhahaa!
{{{huuugs!}}}
-L
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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I agree Math can be difficult. Though in an earlier post i complained about getting a B in calculus, I'm very aware people have difficulties, and it's fine with me. I can see why people would be confused in algebra. I got it, but not everyone did. x*105 = 35 x=? To some people the introduction of letter x is crazy enough. heheh Hey i don't claim great achievements in math. Heck, i was in kindergarten, and to my young mind 49 and 67 didn't exist! WHY you ask? Just because it didn't!! What was in place of those numbers? nothing, it just didn't exist, so the number system was like 48,50,51...65,66,68,... hehehhee *grin* Have a great day!
Al
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hahaha.. why were you watching A Simple Life anyways? (for those of you non tv watchers, "A Simple Life" was a show where Paris Hilton and someone else went to the midwest and stayed there for some amount of days. hehe) "On the other hand, some Americans basically seem to be a lost generation, from an intelligence standpoint." *grin* maybe some have. Hehe Okay so I know what a well is, but i'm sure that she's not the only one. Majority of Americans now live in areas that don't use wells anymore. (still doesn't excuse not knowing what a well was, but hey, trying to make ends meet, and be patriotic *silence*) hehe i admit i've never SEEN a well up close. i think. (a short term memory... check!) *grin* Nothing against me fellow American citizens, but some of us are pretty thick, and i'm sorry to say your statement 'bout some Americans and intelligence factor isn't the greatest. Doesn't help the fact that some kids are watching tv all day. hehe... oh well. 
AL
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e
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On fire! |
Location: currently So Cal
Registered: May 2002
Messages: 1179
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I, for one, could never add, aubtract, multiply, or divide. But sit me down in front of a differential or integral equation and I was a holy terror. Throughout elementary school, I got mostly Cs in math, but when I hit algebra it was straight As from then on. Never understood why. Despite this, they are making me take culinary math in school for two hours every Wednesday. Yesterday we we learning how to convert recipes. Here's an example:
You are hired to cater a party for 2150 guests. You will serve three slices of bread per guest. You estimate that you can get 12 slices of bread per loaf of bread. How much flour do you need to purchase to bake enough bread if only 2000 guests show up? Use your sourdough recipe (the recipe makes 2 loaves).
First of all you better ignore the number that actually show up. You're being paid to serve 2150 guests so you better have enough food for all of them. Second you also better account for the fact that flour comes in 50 lb sacks so if you need say 572 lbs, then you'd have to purchase 600 lbs. That said, the rest is fairly easy.
It's easy to understand why the poor girl couldn't figure out the chnage. They don't really teach math anymore. What passes for math is lessons in how to use a calculator. If you had given her the $2.08 up front, she undoubtedly could have punched in the numbers and the register would have told her how much change to give back. Take away the machine and many of us don't know the basics. But what amazes me more than the fact that studdents don't know the basics is how many teachers don't know them either.
Think good thoughts,
e
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e, i know what you mean. I told you guys my "certain numbers don't exist purely because I SAY so" story in another post. *GRIN* I still find that funny. I was such a dumb lil boy... *sigh* good ol' days. (wonder what kind of reaction if i decided to play that card again. 67?what's 67? a number? no it's not. nooooo... okay i don't want to be sent to an institution) Once I got into algebra, I was exactly the same as you. I never really had a problem ( i hated geometry though ). My poor classmates didn't know what hit them. hehehehe.. Unfortunately, I was deemed the ruler as to how hard a test was by my fellow college math classmates. (how long i stayed in there determined how hard the test was, and how well they did.) I heard them talk 'bout it. Do I look like a thin, long square piece of wood/plastic?
Hmmm.. cooking for 2175 people is daunting enough for me, but that's why i'm not a chef. i'm bound to freak out and food poison someone.. which i hope you understand is a BAD idea. hehehehehe.  I see that all the time in college, no one being able to add anything without calculators. Has anyone tried an abacus? those darn things are so annoying to use a bit. oo how about slide rules? hehehehehe. No i've never really used a slide rule or abacus, but I had to learn it a little.
Cya!
Al
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Because I was curious. I'd heard about that OTHER performance she gave of course (got about a million emails telling me to "Cllïïck hêréè tö sêë Páríïs Híltôònn" etc etc etc, so of course I was curious... Also, I heard about the "reality TV show" (reality??? WTF! LOL!) on The Tonight Show, and the channel showing it now have been talking about it as well. I wanted to see if she and Nicole Richie were as vapid as one might expect (I watched "Clueless" at the cinemas, so I had some hints of what to expect).
Well, it was actually WORSE than I thought it would be!
I haven't laughed that much in quite a while. Almost every word coming out of those girls' mouths was something idiotic, ignorant or plain stupid, so how could I not laugh/like it?
As for the relative intelligence of various people of the earth, I think the reason Americans may have a certain reputation in that regard is there is a prevalent opinion since you guys belong to the greatest nation of the Earth, you don't need to know anything about the rest of this planet. Not saying you personally reason like that of course, but I know quite a few do, some have even admitted as much to me themselves, not as much in words perhaps, but in actions, and doing it in a rather arrogant manner might be added.
I better add though, that I'm not exactly the wisest person to have ever lived, so I don't appear to be too conceited... And I know there are many smart people living in the US too, many with both formal and informal education. Ok, End Of Disclaimer.
Hugs:
-L
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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e
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On fire! |
Location: currently So Cal
Registered: May 2002
Messages: 1179
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Well, we Americans do tend to be a bit arrogant. But it's only because we're always right. ;-D ;-D ;-D ;-D ;-D
Think good thoughts,
e
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Excuse me, but... HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAHAHAAHHAHHHAAHHHHAAA!!!
Jesus. The amount of blonde displayed by those two bimbos in just half an hour's worth of reality show damn near shorted out my TV set. ROFL!
Anyway... I *reeeeallly* like Asian guys.  )
-L
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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He remembers friggin' EVERYTHING.
When I didn't really try to learn maths in school, he sometimes offered help with my homework, claimed he probably hadn't learned things they're teached these days (having gone to school in the 40s and 50s), then still being able to solve the problem within minutes despite it being like 40 years since he'd been taught those things.
That's sort of scary in a way, IMO. I can hardly recall what I did last WEEK. I wonder why...
-L
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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*grin* are you hinting something in that last statement? Okay okay that was a TOTAL understatement. I admit it, Hilton, and the other girl WERE blond majority of the time, but that was the point of the show wasn't it? to watch two blondies? *GRIN* I hear the two of them are totally popular in Japan though. hmmm. I wonder....
Al
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Hehe i tend to be a bit forgetful as well. Okay, so I remember directions very well, and maybe coding, but other than that, my mind is dead. I've been known to walk back and forth across the house trying to find what I need to get, or realizing what i need to get once i get back. try 6 times of repetitive walking back and forth. My mom finally grabbed it for me, cuz my incessant walking back and forth drove her crazy. SHE still laughs because she has a better memory than I do. *grin*
Al
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Since I graduated High School in 1970 (the same year that my partner Man was born...which makes me a trul-born Geezer, for sure...gasp!) I learned math the old way, which was sort of ok until I hit algebra, from which I never truly recovered. Then New Math came in and made me befuddled forever...
But I can make change, and even do a currency conversion or two in the process. I would have given you your $.50 change and asked, "Or would you like that in a 20 Baht note, sir?" Well, it's actually 18-19 Baht today, but you get the idea...::-) ::-)
"Always forgive your enemies...nothing annoys them quite so much." Oscar Wilde
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Math is Hard ..... hehe 
I'd given you $,50 in change for your $2.08, hehehe. 
My adoptive father really impresses me. 
