Chuckle 1118

Chuckle 1118
(Today's chuckle thanks go to Phyllis H of Carpinteria CA!)


~Evolution in Teaching Math~
(Plus: Today in History and Word for the Day)

Last week I purchased a burger and fries at McDonalds for $3.58.

The counter girl took my $4.00 and 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......

~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?

~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?

~Teaching Math in 1970 ~
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

~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 ~
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.)

~Teaching Math In 2006~
Un ranchero vende una carretera de maderapara $100. El cuesto de la produccion era $80. Cuantos tort illas se puede comprar? ***

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~Gone Deaf~

On a rural road a state trooper pulled this farmer over and said: "Sir, do you realize your wife fell out of the car several miles back?"

The farmer replied: "Thank God, I thought I had gone deaf!"
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(Click Today in History and learn.)

• Today in history
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Word of the Day for Sunday July 30, 2006

heterogeneous \het-uh-ruh-JEE-nee-uhs; -JEE-nyuhs\, adjective:Consisting of dissimilar elements, parts, or ingredients -- opposed to homogeneous.

According to the historian Albert Fein, New York embodied "the challenge of a democratic nation's capacity to plan for and maintain an urban environment to meet the needs of a uniquely heterogeneous population."-- Robert A. M. Stern, "et al.", New York 1880

He worked texture and color into the mortar and cement with heterogeneous bits of found junk, from seashells and stones to busted chunks of Phillips' Milk of Magnesia bottles.-- Gene Santoro, Myself When I Am Real

Fragmentation was inevitable within such a heterogeneous group, whose members had little in common.-- Lilia Shevtsova, "et al.", Yeltsin's Russia
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