[1391] in Humor
HUMOR CLASSIC: New Math
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Andrew A. Bennett)
Tue Apr 16 11:21:47 1996
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 11:08:38 EDT
From: "Andrew A. Bennett" <abennett@MIT.EDU>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 22:57:01 -0800
From: connie@interserve.com (Connie Kleinjans)
From: mbeyries@netmanage.com
< forwards counting on their fingers & toes the number of times they've
seen this >
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The history of Math problems taught in schools....How true it is
1960 - A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His
cost of production is four-fifths of this price.
What is his profit?
1970, traditional math - A logger sells a truckload of
lumber for $100. His cost of production is four-
fifths of this price, in other words $80. What
is his profit?
1970, new math - A logger exchanges set L of lumber for
set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100,
and each element is worth $1. Make one hundred
dots representing the elements of set M. The set
C is the subset of M. What is the cardinality of
the set P of profits?
1980 - A logger sells a truckload of wood for $100. His
cost of production is $80, and his profit is $20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
1990, outcome based education - By cutting down beautiful
forest trees, a logger person makes $20. What do
you think of this way of making a living? In your
group, discuss how the forest birds and squirrels
feel and write an essay about it.
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