Teaching Math in California 1950 to 2010

[ALS]

Last week I got a burger at McDonalds, $1.58. The counter girl took
my $2 as I was digging for some change; 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. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.

Why do I tell you this? Read on, perhaps we need to reverse the California education system to the 1950 standard.

Teaching Math in 1950:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
c.. What is his profit?


Teaching Math in 1960:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80.
c.. What is his profit?


Teaching Math in 1970:

a.. A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money.
b.. The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar.
c.. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M."
The set "C," the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set "M."
e.. Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M."
f.. Answer this question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?


Teaching Math in 1980:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20.
c.. Your assignment:
d.. Underline the number 20.


Teaching Math in 1990:

a.. By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20.
b.. What do you think of ! this way of making a living?
c.. Topic for class participation after answering the question:
How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes?
There are no wrong answers.


Teaching Math in 2000:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is $120.
c.. How does Arthur Anderson determine that his profit margin is $60?


Teaching Math in 2010:

a. El hachero vende un camion cargado de madera por $100.
b.. La cuesta de produccion es...

 

[Jakebrake]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ALS:
Last week I got a burger at McDonalds, $1.58. The counter girl took
my $2 as I was digging for some change; 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. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.

Why do I tell you this? Read on, perhaps we need to reverse the California education system to the 1950 standard.

Teaching Math in 1950:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
c.. What is his profit?


Teaching Math in 1960:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80.
c.. What is his profit?


Teaching Math in 1970:

a.. A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money.
b.. The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar.
c.. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M."
The set "C," the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points than set "M."
e.. Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M."
f.. Answer this question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" of profits?


Teaching Math in 1980:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20.
c.. Your assignment:
d.. Underline the number 20.


Teaching Math in 1990:

a.. By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20.
b.. What do you think of ! this way of making a living?
c.. Topic for class participation after answering the question:
How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes?
There are no wrong answers.


Teaching Math in 2000:

a.. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
b.. His cost of production is $120.
c.. How does Arthur Anderson determine that his profit margin is $60?


Teaching Math in 2010:

a. El hachero vende un camion cargado de madera por $100.
b.. La cuesta de produccion es...

---

"Que"

 

[Chris142]

I'm terrible at math. Anything more than xx+xx=xxx is over my head.

I had the same mathbook from 6th to 12th grade. The blue book with the watches on the cover!

Class of 87.5

 

[JohnBrowning]

I know what you are saying. When I was in college one of the odd jobs I held was a pizza delivery boy. It used to blow older people away that I could properly count change back to them.It also amazed them that I could make change in my head on the fly. I guess all the other pizza guys carried calculators! I often beat the register when checking out.

You would think that adding, subtracting, multiplying and diveding would be well covered from kindergarten to 12th grade.

Does anyone beside me think that our horrable fragmented method of structureing a cireculum is flawed!! Does anyone else here think that maybe the plan should be one continious progression from k-12 with less total material covered per year at a slower pace but covered in much more depth and repetition?

 

[Shannow]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ALS:
Last week I got a burger at McDonalds, $1.58. The counter girl took
my $2 as I was digging for some change; I pulled 8 cents from my pocket
and gave it to her.

---

That's not really funny, as it happens all the time down here. We've got $1 and $2 coins, and have eliminated 1 and 2 cents from the currency. Can't even use a 5c piece at the tollway.

Anyway, why it's not funny is that I went to the shops to buy a loaf of bread, and a litre of milk (about 5 years ago, before they got bar code scanners installed).

The girl rang it up, looked me in the eye, and said "That will be two hundred and seventy eight dollars !."

I laughed, and said that it couldn't possibly be that much.

She pointed at the screen, and reiterated $278.

I ended up getting a 99% discount when the supervisor came to see what was holding up the queue.

I lost a lot of faith in kids that day.

(As to the rest of the joke, LOL)

 

[Shannow]

John Browning,
I tutor workmates kids, in exchange for babysitting (I won't take money off a workmate for it, but their kids end up contributing to their tuition).

There are some pretty bright kids, who are getting left behind with the rapid pace of their education. They miss out on a few basics, can respond to the teacher parrot fashion with the stuff that they don't quite get, but never have that moment where it all "clicks", and they can extend the knowledge.

The schools are expected to include soooo much stuff that parents should be teaching their kids (sex, drugs, etc) that there's no time for ensuring that they understand the stuff they should be there to learn.

When I was doing engineering, the university was petitioning to add an extra year to the course, with the new developments in FEA and whatnot. It was dismissed out of hand, with the suggestion that all the "historical stuff" should have been left out....i.e working things out from first principals".

We've now got electrical engineers entering the field who haven't ever studies electrical motors, as it's now an "elective subject" (It was compulsory for all of us Mechers 15 years ago.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I agree that the current amount of material they are covering is just too much! We as a nation really need to do something about this! I would rather have the kids actualy learn something and be able to apply it then raise a new crop of parrots!

 

[Al]

I know I'm over-simplifying here and I may be out to lunch (as usual). But I think one of the major problems is that the "educational system" is just that: A system that educates. The "system" is the latest in learning objective techniques, child behavior, and a lot of other practices (some new, some old). It all gets blended together, by those that "manage" education. Those that manage are the NEA, textbook writers, politicians, and probably many more that I'm too lazy to list.

The main result though is failure. We are not turning out a student with useful skills to make his way in an increasingly complicated world. Why? Because those developing "Learning objectives" (that's the gold standard for learning these days) really don't have a clue about what the real world is like.

So they don't know what "education" in the "education system" is required.

It's really up to parents these days to insure their kids get the best education possible. I think fewer and fewer "Government Schools" (with the NEA and political/educational incompetents involved) are going to produce well educated kids able to compete in today's world.

 

[JohnnyO]

Sad but true. I do that often in attempt to get rid of pennies. I never thought of myself as a math whiz, I just got fast at it from working in a warehouse for several years where you had to count stuff all the time. "Lessee, 2 wide, 7 high, and 4 deep is...."

 

[tweeker43]

i'm kind of torn on year-round school. it would certainly improve continuity, but at the same time, kids are kids and should have some time to run around, play baseball, ride bikes, fish, and generally get sweaty. i know year-round school would **** off the farmers where i came from.

it would also require investment in many schools in terms of air conditioning and maintenance.

some schools do things like 9~12 weeks on, with 4~6 weeks off. there are "n" shifts, so maybe "n-1" shifts are in school while one is out. that might work fairly well.

just a thought.

 

[JohnnyO]

I was in a charity corporate spelling bee last week, I'm on my Rotary club's team every year. In the book there they had pics of the top 11 teenage spellers in the nation (why 11?

). Of the 11, 2 were home-schooled, 2 were public-schooled, and 7 were private-schooled.

 

[Al]

quote:

---

Originally posted by JohnnyO:

I was in a charity corporate spelling bee last week, I'm on my Rotary club's team every year. In the book there they had pics of the top 11 teenage spellers in the nation (why 11?

). Of the 11, 2 were home-schooled, 2 were public-schooled, and 7 were private-schooled.

---

That does say a lot, but there is one other thing. Smart parents have smart kids (generaly). Smart parents generally have better jobs and earn enough money to send their smart kids to private schools. Still-you can't argue against the fact that private schools are better. Best of both worlds:smarter kids and better education (and more disciplin). Thats bad news for McDonalds-they will have to look elsewhere for help.

Wow!! we are now back to what the origional poster (ALS) was talking about.

 

[JohnnyO]

"Son, the world needs ditch diggers too."--Judge Smails in "Caddyshack".