Math from 1950 up to 2005

Math 1950-2005

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I 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 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?

Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:



1. 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?




2. 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?




3. Teaching Math In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?




4. 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.




5. Teaching Math In 1990

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)



6. Teaching Math In 2005

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80.

What's scary is it's accurate....

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I 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 two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.
That part got me laughing. :lol:

should we blame the government? or blame society? or should we blame the images on TV?

HECK NO! Blame Canada! Blame Canada!

Math in 2005 is more like: "If -Davo drinks 10 schooners of Carlton Draught, followed by 3 Schooners of Guiness, over a period of 4 hours, what is the probability that he will throw up, given 10 Schooners = 13.4 standard drinks.

Nah, in America we're over-censored... can't have alcohol related. See my censorship post for more info on our censorship problem.

should we blame the government? or blame society? or should we blame the images on TV?

HECK NO! Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
damn straight, we canadians have been screwing up education for you americans since..... what's 2005 minus 1950? damnit, i need a calculator.... 55 years.

anyways, my math is more like:
A logger is carrying 10 tonnes of carbon 14 for some reason, given the half life of carbon 14 is 5760 years, calculate how much carbon 14 would be left after 3 hours.
or
Prove that the sum of the squares of the diagonals of a parallelogram are equal to twice the sum of the squares of the sides of the same parallelogram.
or
prove that (axb)=(square root sign for this whole thing)(a*a)(b*b)+2(a*b)

that kinda stuff, you know, the stuff that im never going to use.

It's is true...I had to buy some special bolt at the Ford dealer a couple weeks ago, and the bill came to a whopping $.82. I gave the cashier a dollar bill, she stared at me for a moment, and then got out a calculator to figure out how much change she owed me. Wow.

shit is crazy

damn straight, we canadians have been screwing up education for you americans since..... what's 2005 minus 1950? damnit, i need a calculator.... 55 years.

anyways, my math is more like:
A logger is carrying 10 tonnes of carbon 14 for some reason, given the half life of carbon 14 is 5760 years, calculate how much carbon 14 would be left after 3 hours.
or
Prove that the sum of the squares of the diagonals of a parallelogram are equal to twice the sum of the squares of the sides of the same parallelogram.
or
prove that (axb)=(square root sign for this whole thing)(a*a)(b*b)+2(a*b)

that kinda stuff, you know, the stuff that im never going to use.

Your math is actually pretty easy. Right now I'm taking a course in Differential Equations (if you don't know what that is, don't even bother to ask). Sad thing is, I'll actually end up using it as an engineer.

Your math is actually pretty easy. Right now I'm taking a course in Differential Equations (if you don't know what that is, don't even bother to ask). Sad thing is, I'll actually end up using it as an engineer.

the sad thing is you think you will, but you won't (i took D.E. a few years ago and interned as a mechanical engineer. didn't use shit. maybe some statistics, but that's it). :wink:

im in grade 12, and you really don't use that stuff as an engineer. i know a few that have told me they haven't used calculus since they started working as an engineer.

thanks for the reassurance guys

yes we americans are poor at math... ussually, unless you count things for a living... or write those damn math books and have to make the answer book for it too. or are a math teacher. i think our math teachers in the lower grades should break any and all calculators we have. then we gotta do it in our head. <wait to use those graphing calculators for the hard stuff in college.

yes we americans are poor at math... ussually, unless you count things for a living... or write those damn math books and have to make the answer book for it too. or are a math teacher. i think our math teachers in the lower grades should break any and all calculators we have. then we gotta do it in our head. <wait to use those graphing calculators for the hard stuff in college.

Yes, but how often are the awnsers in the back of the math books wrong?

And then their was my Pre-Calc teacher junior year in HS. He was a boring soft spoken guy who made Ben Stein look like Robin Williams on crack. That, and I can't remember how many times (and not just because I couldn't pay attention) he started a problem on the borad as an example only to go haflway through it untill he realized it was a "bad example," at which a student would point out his mistake, or he just give up.

I also like the idea about the calculators.

there are also those varying types of teachers... yes ive had more then my fare share of idiot math teachers, who we would call the mistakes on. but every now and then ild get those math teachers who actually knew what they were doing. those teachers impress me. my last math class was with a guy named mr baumguarder. we called him bomb for short.< sarcastic as hell, and he could turn anything around on a student who was gving him shit... it was fricken awesome. but he would blow your mind on some of this stuff, we asked him hard questions out of left field and he could tell you the answer in a matter of seconds. in fact i held the longest record against him on how long it took him to give the answer. 2 minutes 38 seconds. < this guy scared the dumb shit right out of you on how he did it.

my finetics mathematics teacher had a PhD in Mathematics... how the hell can you do that? I could never goto school for that long for that subject.

hell i cant keep my mind on math for more then 20 minutes a day before im fried... let alone 8(?) YEARS of extra math in college.

it takes an average of 8 years to get a PhD yes

Math is easy.

parents are too lenient; they should start beating the shit out their kids again.

that, or have state schools employ nuns - sexually frustrated, and angry nuns.

so true so true haha

parents are too lenient; they should start beating the shit out their kids again.

exactly!

http://www.photodump.com/direct/kicker1_solo/parenting.jpg

I'm only 21 but when I was in school they still taught us basic mathematics. Throw any problem at me and I can give you the answer in seconds. However I've noticed with the next generation of kids (15-18) if the computers are down at their jobs they can't do shit, not even basic math like you guys have stated above. I can't even understand it... :disappoin

lol awesome post

Yea, at the store the other day, the power was out....That place was in chaos. No body could add the bottle of soda and the chips shit, and in Nevada there is no food tax, so that wasn't the problem. I also have been like wait I have the change, and it was the exact change so i just got the extra dollar bill, and the tard couldn't figure it out. Really frustrates me.

lol awesome post

I AGREE!:grinyes: :iceslolan :grinyes: :iceslolan

My threads never die... they just get quiet for awhile.

I think they need to quit using calculators till college. Learn how to do the shit on paper and in your head. I will admit, my math education has been quite poor through the entire grade school - high school. I think it would have been better if we would have been taught more how to do everything on paper instead of on a damn calculator. Hell, my roommate has been through calc1-3, Engineering physics 1 (working on 2), and in Diff. Eq, on just a cheap ass 20 dollar calculator. I know right now I couldn't do that, but I'm trying to get better at it.

Fortunetly even though I fall into the range that is described for people being idiots at basic math I escaped the whole math decline by being homeschooled by my parents grades 1-5 and in 6th grade I went to a school that had not yet conformed to the new math standards. Right now im in Calc 1 at my college and ive still got discreate math, calc 2 and linear algebra down the line. (what have I gotten myself into? :screwy: )

ps. I didn't own a calculator untill 9th grade

Sad but true.....without a calculator, most kids of today's math skills suck.

very funny post...

Math in 2005 is more like: "If -Davo drinks 10 schooners of Carlton Draught, followed by 3 Schooners of Guiness, over a period of 4 hours, what is the probability that he will throw up, given 10 Schooners = 13.4 standard drinks.

How big is a schooner where you're from? Here, a schooner is only about 8 oz. Basically half a pint, so how does 10 schooners = 13.4 standard drinks?

i remember my senior year of high school. they said i could either take college algebra or math models (you know, the one where they teach you stuff you will actually use). well being that the class was goign to be at 8 am every morning either way, i took the one i could sleep in more.

that was a bad idea, sure i learnt a ton of stuff im using right now, but when i got to college, i was f**ked. i didnt know anything because i had forgotten it all.

when i lived in england we were doing way more advanced stuff. we were doing calculus level things at 16 and that was for everyone, not just a few people.