Thread: Baffling Math Problem Being Given Out to Elementary Students Will Make Your Head Expl

This Baffling Math Problem Being Given Out to Elementary Students Will Make Your Head Explode

Kyle Becker | On 11, Feb 2014

This is a math problem being given out to students in the “reforming” American education system:



As IJReview Staff Writer Kira Davis put it:

“This math problem can be whatever you want it to be, children! It’s all up to you! Btw, at 6 yrs old my daughter finds this extremely confusing. It’s too much for her to come up with the answer AND the question. She doesn’t get that. She needs clear structure at this age.”

Exactly right. Children need to become familiar with objective reality before they deal with abstractions, which are best grasped by children 12 and above. Coming up with your own question to go with your own answer? This Common Core question is about as abstract as it gets!

Our education system’s thinking about how to get the best out of each individual student is almost as muddled as this problem. Almost.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/1142...-head-explode/

Michelle Malkin

‘Messed up’: This shockingly stupid math problem is definitely worthy of Common Core [pic]

==> http://twitchy.com/2014/02/11/messed...mmon-core-pic/

‘Messed up’: This shockingly stupid math problem is definitely worthy of Common Core [pic]

Posted at 10:06 am on February 11, 2014 by Twitchy Staff | View Comments

@Maxicat can't round for shit, can they?
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Roger (@Roger247) February 09, 2014

Oh, fer cryin’ out loud …

Check out this mathematical abomination from — where else? — a Common Core homework assignment:
https://twitter.com/Maxicat/status/432616613649469440

We feel for the third-graders subjected to that crap. A difference of 145 is reasonable? In what universe?
https://twitter.com/waterfordwoods/s...22884855767040

That would explain so much.
https://twitter.com/Maxicat/status/432623412679147520

According to our calculations, homeschooling parents might be on to something.
https://twitter.com/davidtopel/statu...47418077655040

No kidding.
(Thanks to @Maxicat for help with sourcing!)
Update:
Just a quick note on the “front-end estimation” method: While it has been taught for decades, it is sadly typical that a Common Core-aligned lesson plan would embrace this flawed estimation technique as a valid way to “check” that an answer is “reasonable.”
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Related: Twitchy coverage of Common Core


http://twitchy.com/2014/02/11/messed...mmon-core-pic/