Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The Ultimate Bad Homework Question Thread!

They just changed it this year with the current edition, but 2011 was still a little too late to be having this question in a math textbook for elementary-aged kids who can't remember a time without call waiting and cell phones...

(Answer options are general probability terms of certain...impossible...likely...unlikely...etc.)

What is the probability of getting a busy signal while making a long-distance phone call?

What is the capital of Alaska?

Seems straight forward enough but when my DH as a third grader stood by his answer Juneau, my in laws were called in for an after school meeting to discuss his stubbornness. The teacher thought it was Willow.

I am completely confused. Are phone numbers more or less prone to busy signals if you're calling from outside a certain area?

What number am I calling here? Is it a government agency without a menu-driven system (not that they exist these days, but say, the IRS on April 14)? Or my sister when she's not home? The probability of a busy signal is very different for those two numbers in those two situations. It is not, as far as I'm aware, dependent on how far away I am from the phone I'm calling.

I am so not overthinking this one.

I think I would just write "Yes" to this question and move on.

Ok, a new one already! What a week we are having!

Bryan has three $60 bills. Which expression shows how much money he has?
A. 60/3
B. 60-3
C. 60+4
D. 60x4

??? First of all, where does Bryan live that he has $60 bills? Apparently, it is a world or dimension in which it is not necessary to actually include the correct answer in the multiple choice options. Sigh, I just told him to write in the correct answer.

Whoahhh... that one's a doozy in several ways, yes.

I think that the answer must be A.

It's obvious. This is a place with funny money. Why not funny math operations, too?

What the...??

And how many kids right on the brink of thinking they understand math have permanently given up that idea after reading this problem. What's the chance a teacher would discuss the flaw to improve kids confidence.

My favorite bit of advocacy:
Teacher: "Your child has been correcting me in class."
My Mom: "Well, were you wrong?"

I sort of hate to laugh, but I can't stop cracking up about the three $60 bills. $60 bills! How is this for real?

I wonder how many kids did the calculation you explained to arrive at 3, and how many checked to see whether or not you could actually cut 8 10" pieces and 8 8" pieces from 3 48" rods. It turns out you can (if you ignore losses due to the width of your saw blade and sanding... which would require you to use 4 rods in the real world). At least the question authors got that much right.

I was curious, and did it too-- 10 10 10 10 8, 10 10 10 10 8, 8 8 8 8 8 8. And I had the same thought about widths of the cuts.