• Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    When I was in elementary, my teacher said that “Lutetia” was how the Romans called the city of Liege. As an avid reader of Asterix comics, I knew this isn’t true and corrected her and said it was the Roman name of Paris. She insisted that it is Liege. Anyway, the next day, she came back to class and said that she looked it up and that I was indeed correct and Lutetia referred to Paris and gave me a chocolate bar and told me to keep reading comics. Good teacher.

    • remon@ani.social
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      2 months ago

      In elementary school our teacher asked us to spell the current year with roman numerals, so I worked out “MCMXCVIII”, which I was quite proud of. But the teacher came back at me quite snarkyly and said it’s much easier to just substract 2 from 2000, “IIMM” duh!

      It was only many years later that I accidently learned that he was indeed full of shit and I was right all along.

      • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago

        it’s much easier to just substract 2 from 2000, “IIMM” duh!

        For anyone wondering why this is wrong, there are two reasons:

        1. The roman numeral system only traditionally contains subtractions from the next higher five- and tenfold symbol. So you can subtract I from V and X, X from L and C, C from D and M

        2. The subtractions only generally allowed one symbol to be subtracted, with a few notable exceptions like XIIX for 18 and XXIIX for 28

        • edwardbear@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Holy shit this is dope!

          But how did historians come up with the conclusion that, in the case of XIIX, the Romans substracted from the second X, and didn’t just write 12+10?

          Not arguing, just extremely curious

  • josefo@leminal.space
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    2 months ago

    If you state that Marty ate more as part of the question, you cannot answer in any other way, because it denies mathematical logic here. You introduced a lie as part of the problem, and if I need to decide myself which part of the statement is a lie, I can pick whatever I want, let’s say, Marty didn’t ate 4/6, but 6/6. This teacher should be taken to the gulag.

    • Klear@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You introduced a lie as part of the problem

      There is no lie or contradiction in the problem, what are you smoking? The kid’s answer is exactly correct.

      • Lightor@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Marty ate more than Luis, that was she lie, in the problem not the answer. That’s if the teacher is saying the answer isn’t right.

    • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, this is answered exactly correctly, and also demonstrates that the child has a strong grasp of how fractions work. 3/4 of 2 is greater than 4/4 of 1, even though 4/4 is a larger fraction than 3/4.

      • josefo@leminal.space
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        2 months ago

        Yeah, that was my point. If everything the question says is true, the only way 4/6 is more amount pizza than 5/6, is that the first one is a bigger pizza. The kid not only understood the logic with fractions and the problem statement, but came up with a really good answer. You can even calculate how much bigger the pizza is.

        Teachers accepting only “the right answer” without pondering that kind of thinking, are really just damaging kids. Straight to the gulag.

  • lugal@sopuli.xyz
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    2 months ago

    Why would you ask “How is this possible” when you expect the answer to be “it’s not”?

    • gloog@fedia.io
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      2 months ago

      Because they spent an entire math class period earlier that week explaining to the students what “reasonableness” was going to mean on their next math test, and in the context of (I’m guessing 3rd or 4th grade) arithmetic the important thing they’re trying to teach is that 5/6 is a larger fraction than 4/6. I agree that the question could be worded better (change the last two sentences to “Marty says he ate more pizza. Is this possible?”) but I strongly suspect that the missing context from their class - or maybe even at the beginning of the test - explains enough to get the answer the teacher was looking for here.

      Yes, one kid starting with a larger pizza changes the situation, but fundamentally that’s an algebra question, not a “learning fractions” question.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        We can understand the context of the curriculum goals and still realize that the question was asinine and the teacher is a dipshit.

      • Saleh@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        Well yes it is a learning fractions question. Pizza is not a number. Pizza is not a specification of size. It is absolutely crucial for understanding fractions, that a fraction of anything but two numbers will be factored by the size or whatever metric of that thing.

        In the same wake you learn that “5” is not an answer to a typical physics calculation, as the unit is missing.

    • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      Because these “teacher is dumber than a child” pictures are always fake. I’ve never seen a teacher write corrections on a student’s paper. Are they doing that for every wrong question on every paper? That would take forever!

  • kamen@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Commendable for the kid to be thinking outside of the box, and a bit shitty of the teacher for not giving them maybe half a point (because it’s a correct answer, but not the correct/expected answer). The test maker is also to blame - they should’ve taken care to eliminate all ambiguity - it’s a math test after all.

    • djehuti@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      The kid’s answer is the only correct answer. It’s not half right, or 5/6 or 4/6 right. It’s the only correct answer that fits the question. The teacher is a moron who has no business in a math classroom except as a remedial student.

  • sandflavoured@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    I suspect many commenters are missing the point, the student’s response can only be the correct and expected answer to this question. Teacher has it wrong.

    • Enkimaru@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      No. The teacher did not have it wrong. Does not mean the student is right … Marty and Luis both had their own pizza. Marty had a big pizza and “only” managed to eat 4/6th of it. Luis had a small pizza, and “only” managed to eat 5/6th of his. If you want to give a nitpicking correct answer: a single pizza does not have (4 + 5)/6th pieces. x/6th implies the pizza(s) were divided into 6 parts … so: it can only be 2 pizzas.

      • cactopuses@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        I’ve read this a few times and I’m genuinely not sure I understand what you’re saying.

        4/6th is a smaller ratio than 5/6 the only way for 4/6 to be greater would be for the area to increase.

        Expressed as percentages it would be 66% (approx) eaten vs 83% (approx) where the person that ate 66% ate more pizza. The only way that’s possible is if the area of the pizza that 66% of was consumed was greater. (Strictly speaking the volume could be at play here too but I’m going to assume they’re the same height for the question).

        I genuinely don’t see any way his thinking was wrong, or how this could be answered another way.

        I might genuinely be missing something but if so this question is poorly worded.

        • Soleos@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          They’re just doing the same thing as the teacher and assuming the two pizzas have to be of equal size and therefore it’s an impossible situation.

  • tauren@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    The question is stupid, but the kid’s answer is still wrong.

      • tauren@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        It’s a basic assumption in these word problems. For instance, when they ask you to compare 2/4 and 2/8, you know that you can transform 2/4 to 4/8 and see that it’s greater than 2/8 (0.5 > 0.25). It’s a basic school program, there are no tricks here. It’s a pure math exercise.

        • remon@ani.social
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          2 months ago

          It’s a basic assumption in these word problems.

          When the question is “How is it possible?” then basic assumptions go out the window.

          It’s a pure math exercise.

          No, it even days “Reasonableness” above the problem.

          Within the paramters of the question the kids answer is reasonable and correct.

            • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              No, they’re correct. You just fail logic so hard that you think math can erase a lie…

              • tauren@lemm.ee
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                2 months ago

                I’ve never seen so many people who are proud that they don’t understand an elementary-school level math, this is hilarious.

                • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  We understand the INTENT of the question. The problem is as it is stated, the question does not limit the domain of correct answers to only what the teacher wants.

                  Now please… get your head out of your ass and develop better logic skills.

                • iegod@lemm.ee
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                  2 months ago

                  You’re the dope that doesn’t get the math.

                  4/6 x > 5/6 y

                  x > 5/4 y

                  Where this relation holds the statement is consistent. I think you should revisit some basics.

                • chunes@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  4/6 of an extra large pizza is more pizza than 5/6 of a personal pan pizza. How are you struggling with this?