4/14/11

Not good at real life

Orangeboy and Sister were discussing questions that gave them trouble on the CRCT.   Father-figure and I told them that some questions would probably be thrown out because they were there as trial questions.  Why tried to convince them that questions that were worded poorly or were too confusing might not count.
Orangeboy was still very concerned about a math question he probably got wrong.  I assume this is because he was aiming for a perfect score on the math portion.  He considers himself a math genius and future math teacher. 

The subject of the discussion was a word problem about estimating measurements.  According to Orangeboy it was worded something like this:
"Lisa wants to make three batches of pancakes.  Approximately how much milk would she use?
A.  36 cups
B.  36 ounces
C.  36 quarts
D.  36 gallons

Orangeboy thought she would use 36 cups of milk.  He reasoned that a "batch" means a lot of pancakes and three batches would be many, many pancakes.  Sister said she thought about it and decided that 36 ounces would probably be enough.  I confirmed that the answer was, surely, 36 ounces because it really didn't take much milk for one batch of pancakes and 36 ounces would be over 4 cups of milk.  You wouldn't need more than that unless you were cooking for an army or the whole school.  Orangeboy's brother also confirmed that Orangeboy was wrong by laughing.
Orangeboy's response: "Well, I'm not too good at things that have to do with real life."

Yes, we know.

He's a genius on paper, but when it comes to real life application of learning; he'd rather play a video game.

2 comments:

  1. I cannot believe schools...especially concerning questions involving math...use unknowable quantities...a batch is subjective (a batch is job specific...home cooking vs industrial). One of the first things kids are taught is to not assume. When it comes to math...the variables are supposed to be knowable through computation. Real life depends on the content and the context used. Had the context been one of cooking at home...maybe...however...most boys never see the kitchen.

    Test designers are supposed to use forethought...a little used would have made the question a more reliable indicator of applied math.

    Sorry...I am biased toward ASD children. My son, as well as I, get upset at such questions....and don't get me started on the idiocy of the who discovered America farce...the answer is unknowable. The indigenous people (that we do know of...never mind the evidence of earlier explorers) did not have written records. Besides...it was never Columbus...he "discovered" the Caribbean Isles. Our school texts, and tests, are rife with mistakes...both in fact...as well as logic.

    I know the article is pointing to a humorous situation...but the situation in our schools is not (my son is now home schooled).

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  2. You're right. Standardized tests make things worse because they are multiple choice and that doesn't lend itself well to logic and reasoning - just regurgitating "facts".

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