Originally Posted by Val
I agree completely, so I think I didn't make myself clear.

The textbooks used today (well, the ones I've looked at anyway) have so much extra stuff, it crowds out actual information. Here are examples from my son's geometry book:

  • LiNK
  • Who uses this?
  • Engineering application
  • CONCEPT CONNECTION
  • Why learn this?
  • California Standards
  • Remember!

This is on top of semi-useful stuff like "Know-It Notes," "Helpful Hints," "Standardized Test Prep!" and "Spiral Review." There are bright, distracting icons everywhere and the book is loaded with irrelevant color photographs of things like traffic signals, puppies, heroes on horseback, and the Statue of Liberty. Did you know that her index finger is 8 feet long? I do now, thanks to that book. But what this has to do with similar triangles I do not know.

There's very little space for actual text that you'd have to sit down and concentrate on. But that might be hard, and geometry wouldn't be "accessible."

I'm looking at a "challenge" problem in my son's book. It's a straightforward question about side-hypotenuse relationships in a 45-45-90 triangle (the side is 1; how long is the hypotenuse?). For those who've forgotten, the formula is 1-1-root 2.

I think that basic geometry is a really great thing for students who aren't mathematically inclined. What tears at me is that with books like the one I have on my desk (which follows state standards and the content is therefore mandated), difficult geometry is out of the question.

I see your point. I too think it's a terrible decision to take out the difficult questions, and distract from learning actual math concepts. The extras should be there to inspire an interest in math, not to impede children from learning.

But, I can appreciate that a large triangle is similar to a small triangle in much the same way that an 8 foot finger is similar to a child's 3 inch finger. There's a lesson about scale related to that example.

It seems to me that the new text books you've described don't have a good balance between the basic mathematical principles and the (hopefully) related topics of interest. I just wanted to make a point that a good text book will have broad appeal, and that such a book should definitely highlight interesting applications of the lessons within.

Last edited by DAD22; 12/23/11 10:21 AM. Reason: too many "seems to me"s.