Kid finds flaw in calculator

[RegularK]

WTF? They get to use calculators on standardized tests? I remember using pencil, paper, and my noggin.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Hahahhaa, I used to pull this stuff all the time. Just have to press two intersecting buttons.

Newer tech doesn't do it much though. THe old tech was flawed though. I used to get soda machines to spit multiple cans of coke out for the price of one.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Sadly noone is addressing the bigger problem.....why do Middle School kids have calculators in the first place? They should be learning the fundamentals of arithmetic and not the fundamentals of calculator use. No wonder kids these days are so fricken stupid. Maybe if the ignorant adults these days actually EXPECTED anything from their children they might perform but sadly I feel those days are over. The world, at least the US, is in a tailspin of stupidity.

That's exactly what I entered the thread to say.
Reason for calculators: to make the arithmetic easier...

But, typical math question is:
solve the system of equations
2x + 3y = 10
3x - 4y = -5

plain old integers.
I say, if you're going to give them calculators, then give them problems like this:
2.145x + 3.289y = 10.458
3.123x - 3.925y = -6.456

They claim the calculators are so they can cover the curriculum better, with less time spent on arithmetic... yet, 90% of the arithmetic is done with 2 digit numbers. (I'm a math teacher) Daily, I bang my head against the wall over this. I had a student receiving help after school today who couldn't figure out how I did 4 minus negative 7 in my head so quickly. IT'S THE SAME AS 4 + 7 !!!!! But, since she and everyone else has had calculators since middle school, they never needed to learn the rules. Now that we're doing big kid math, they struggle, because they don't know the rules for simple operations.

Don't even get me started on fractions.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Sadly noone is addressing the bigger problem.....why do Middle School kids have calculators in the first place? They should be learning the fundamentals of arithmetic and not the fundamentals of calculator use. No wonder kids these days are so fricken stupid. Maybe if the ignorant adults these days actually EXPECTED anything from their children they might perform but sadly I feel those days are over. The world, at least the US, is in a tailspin of stupidity.

That's exactly what I entered the thread to say.
Reason for calculators: to make the arithmetic easier...

But, typical math question is:
solve the system of equations
2x + 3y = 10
3x - 4y = -5

plain old integers.
I say, if you're going to give them calculators, then give them problems like this:
2.145x + 3.289y = 10.458
3.123x - 3.925y = -6.456

They claim the calculators are so they can cover the curriculum better, with less time spent on arithmetic... yet, 90% of the arithmetic is done with 2 digit numbers. (I'm a math teacher) Daily, I bang my head against the wall over this. I had a student receiving help after school today who couldn't figure out how I did 4 minus negative 7 in my head so quickly. IT'S THE SAME AS 4 + 7 !!!!! But, since she and everyone else has had calculators since middle school, they never needed to learn the rules. Now that we're doing big kid math, they struggle, because they don't know the rules for simple operations.

Don't even get me started on fractions.

Heh, my teachers always DID give us ridiculous problems for the calculator portion of all our [normal] tests. State/county tests, though. Bahahahahahhahahahahahahahhaa.

 

[newParadigm]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
There are no stupid questions... just an awful lot of inquisitive idiots.
.99999999... = 0!

Easiest way to solve this debate is right here 1/3 +1/3 + 1/3 = 1.

If 1/3 = .333333.....(repeating), then .33333..... + .3333333..... + .333333....... must equal 1 as well.

 

[Amplifier]

If a kid can't convert fvcking fractions just off his nuts so he can't procreate.

 

[Electric Amish]

I thought it was going to be something cool like the calculator was not performing the math functions correctly and he figured it out.

 

[mobobuff]

? Why is that a big deal? Am I missing something? Isn't converting a decimal to a fraction just a matter of placing it over 1?

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I thought it was going to be something cool like the calculator was not performing the math functions correctly and he figured it out.

Same here.

 

[thomsbrain]

(TI sends out the hit-man squad to put a whooping on this kid)

 

[LS20]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
I thought it was going to be something cool like the calculator was not performing the math functions correctly and he figured it out.

i, too

 

[DAGTA]

If we weren't raising another generation of retards this wouldn't be a problem. Calculators should be banned from all math classes prior to Trigonometry or Calculus.

 

[tami]

that's pretty cool. good for him. and he got a free graphing calculator out of it too!

 

[mchammer187]

still don't know why this is considered a flaw

calc should just be taken off the approved list

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Students shouldn't be allowed to use calculators until they're in calculus.

 

[alexjohnson16]

I used to cheat by putting formulas and notes into a program form on my TI-89 and then going in and looking at edit during the tests.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Nik
Students shouldn't be allowed to use calculators until they're in calculus.

I agree to a certain extent...calculators that are so powerful that they let you skate through the class should be prohibited. That said, a compotente teacher can easily put together a test (at least for HS level Algebra / Geometry, probably not middle and elementary school kids) that does not benefit from the use of a calculator.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
He just went from the most popular guy in class to the most hated.

I doubt he was ever the most popular kid in the class...

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: alexjohnson16
I used to cheat by putting formulas and notes into a program form on my TI-89 and then going in and looking at edit during the tests.

I was even smarter with my TI-86. I programmed it to where all I had to do was cycle through the program list and run the correct program that I made myself. It would ask me for variables for different equasions, I'd enter them, and it would spit out the answer. :evil:

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: alexjohnson16
I used to cheat by putting formulas and notes into a program form on my TI-89 and then going in and looking at edit during the tests.

I was even smarter with my TI-86. I programmed it to where all I had to do was cycle through the program list and run the correct program that I made myself. It would ask me for variables for different equasions, I'd enter them, and it would spit out the answer. :evil:

Did you ever program a spell check function?

 

[Sahakiel]

Originally posted by: newParadime

Originally posted by: DrPizza
There are no stupid questions... just an awful lot of inquisitive idiots.
.99999999... = 0!

Easiest way to solve this debate is right here 1/3 +1/3 + 1/3 = 1.

If 1/3 = .333333.....(repeating), then .33333..... + .3333333..... + .333333....... must equal 1 as well.

0! = 1

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: newParadime

Originally posted by: DrPizza
There are no stupid questions... just an awful lot of inquisitive idiots.
.99999999... = 0!

Easiest way to solve this debate is right here 1/3 +1/3 + 1/3 = 1.

If 1/3 = .333333.....(repeating), then .33333..... + .3333333..... + .333333....... must equal 1 as well.

only problem with that is now you have to prove that 1/3 = .3333....otherwise what you said isn't complete.

but of course we all know .999999... = 1 or 0! so no more discussing.

 

[Rock Hydra]

I :heart: my TI 83 Plus SE which I don't use all that often anymore. =/

 

[mercanucaribe]

Something is wrong if a kid doesn't know how to convert a decimal into a fraction.. COME ON.