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The
Evolution of a Math Problem
1950:
A lumberjack sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is 4/5 of this price. What is his profit?
1960
(traditional math):
A lumberjack sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is 4/5 of this price, or in other words $80. What is his
profit?
1970
(new math):
A lumberjack exchanges a set L of lumber for a set M of money. The
cardinality of set M is 100, and each element is worth $1. Make 100
dots representing the elements of set M. The set C is a subset of set
M, of cardinality 80. What is the cardinality of the set P of profits,
if P is the difference set M\C?
1980
(equal opportunity math):
A lumberjack sells a truckload of wood for $100. His or her cost of
production is $80, and his or her profit is $20. Your assignment:
Underline the number 20.
1990
(outcome based education):
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, a lumberperson makes $20. What
do you think of his way of making a living? In your group, discuss how
the forest birds and squirrels feel, and write an essay about it.
1995
(entrepreneurial math):
By laying off 402 of its lumberjacks, a company improves its stock
price from $80 to $100. How much capital gain per share does the CEO
make by exercising his stock options at $80? Assume capital gains are
no longer taxed, because this encourages investment.
1998
(motivational math):
A logging company exports its wood-finishing jobs to its Indonesian
subsidiary and lays off the corresponding half of its US workers (the
higher-paid half). It clear-cuts 95% of the forest, leaving the rest
for the spotted owl, and lays off all its remaining US workers. It
tells the workers that the spotted owl is responsible for the absence
of fellable trees and lobbies Congress for exemption from the
Endangered Species Act. Congress instead exempts the company from all
federal regulation. What is the return on investment of the lobbying?
The answer to
the problem was "log(1+x)". A student copied the answer from the
student next to him, but didn't want to make it obvious that he was
cheating, so he changed the answer slightly, to "timber(1+x)".
When I was in
school, I cheated on my metaphysics exam. I looked into the soul of the
boy sitting next to me.
The
ways to grade the final exams
Dept of
Statistics: All grades are plotted along the normal bell curve. Dept of
Psychology: Students are asked to blot ink in their exam books, close
them and turn them in. The professor opens the books and assigns the
first grade that comes to mind. Dept of History: All students get the
same grade they got last year. Dept of Religion: Grade is determined by
God. Dept of Philosophy: What is a grade? Law School: Students are
asked to defend their position of why they should receive an A. Dept of
Logic: If and only if the student is present for the final and the
student has accumulated a passing grade then the student will receive
an A else the student will not receive an A. Dept of Computer Science:
Random number generator determines grade. Music Department: Each
student must figure out his grade by listening to the instructor play
the corresponding note (+ and - would be sharp and flat respectively).
Dept of Physical Education: Everybody gets an A.
Schools
We Don't want to Attend
 The Leona Helmsley School
of Tax Preparation
The Mike Tyson Charm School
The William Kennedy Smith Dating Service
The Saddam Hussein Military Academy
The Charles Keating Chair in Business Ethics
The Don King Barber College
The Pee-wee Herman Advanced Sexuality Course
The Louis Farrakhan School of Diplomacy.
When you walk
into the classroom and say good morning...
When they say
good morning back, it's Freshmen.
When they put their newspapers down and open their books, it's
Sophomores.
When they look up so they can see the instructor over the tops of the
newspapers, it's juniors.
When they put their feet up on the desks and keep reading, it's
seniors.
When they write it down, it's graduate students.
Questions you
Hope your Pupils won't Ask you
Why doesn't glue
stick to the inside of its bottle?
Why are there
flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?
Why are
cigarettes sold in gas stations when smoking is prohibited there?
Why do you need
a driver's license to buy liquor when you can't drink and drive?
Why is lemon
juice mostly artificial ingredients but dishwashing liquid contains
real lemons?
If 7-11 is open
24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?
If a cow
laughed, would milk come out her nose?
If nothing ever
sticks to TEFLON, how do they make TEFLON stick to the pan?
If you tied
buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what
would happen?
If you're in a
vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the
headlights?
If it's zero
degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow,
how cold is it going to be?
Have you ever
imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
How does the guy
who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?
You know how
most packages say "Open here"? What is the protocol if the package
says, "Open somewhere else"?
You know that
little indestructible black box that is used on planes? Why can't they
make the whole plane out of the same substance?
What do you
plant to grow a seedless watermelon?
When sign makers
go on strike, is anything written on their signs?

How
teachers do it...
Teachers do it
with class.
Teachers do it 50 times after class.
Teachers do it with boys and girls.
Teachers make you do it till you get it right.
You Might Be a Schoolteacher if...
you
have no time for a life from August to June.
you
want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work from 8 to
3 and have your summers free!"
when
out in public you feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct
their behavior.
you
refer to adults as "boys and girls."
you
encourage your spouse by telling them they are a "good helper."
you've
ever had your profession slammed by someone who would never dream of
doing your job.
meeting
a child's parents instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like
this?"
you
believe "extremely annoying" should have its own box on the report
card.
you
know hundred good reasons for being late.
you
don't want children of your own because there isn't a name you can hear
that wouldn't elevate your blood pressure.
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How many
schoolteachers does it take to change a light bulb?
None. Anything not completed during the lesson is added to the
homework.
How many
students does it take to change a light bulb?
None. Light bulb changing isn't in the course notes.
"Is it worth any bonus marks?"
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