The NEW MATH Story

The incident got me thinking about how our I was learning math in school (or not). My parents generations knew things we don't; maybe somewhere we ran into this that totally wiped out my claas of men who were going to Enfgineering School. Most did not.

Fwd:

Teaching math in 1950: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5ths of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching math in 1960: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His costs of production is 4/5ths of the price or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching math in 1970: A logger exchanges a set of “L” of lumber for a set of “M” of money. The cardinality of set “M” is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set “M””. The set “C”, the costs of production, contains 20 fewer points than set “M”. Represent the set “C” as a subset of the set “M”. Answer this question: What is the cardinality of the set “P” of profits?

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.

Teaching math in 1990: By cutting down the beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? ( There are no wrong answers).

Teaching math in 2000: A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $120. How does Arthur Anderson determine that his profit margin is $60?

Teaching math in 2005: El honcho vende un camion por $100. La cuesta de production es….

A cheerful heart is good medicine… (prov.17:22a)

A little different take on an age old problem