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

Same class that had this gem on last week's work:


Because it's an assessment item, I can't post the answer. {ahem} If anyone wants to know the "correct" answer, give me a PM.

DD got it wrong. But didn't want to bother arguing the issue over a single point. This class is a graduation requirement. Yes, it's fluff. And, being unweighted, it will reduce her GPA, which is like salt in the wound. It's mostly an irritation, however, and DD often can figure out what they INTEND for the right answers to be-- whether or not they have any basis in fact/reality is another matter.

Most of the "course content" reads an awful lot like propaganda, according to DD.

Head---> desk

Was there an "E -- all of the above" option? I believe I would have made one, myself. If you're going to miss it, miss it with style.



Paying for jails -- yes. That's where all of those extra fines and fees come in.

Okay so this was an assessment question not a homework question. And my problem is not the question per se but that my DS was marked wrong for it b/c apparently his answer didn't fit the specific formula.

Here it is: "Write a comparing story. Draw a model that matches the story. Write a number sentence that solves the story."

DS wrote as an answer: "There are 70 lego pieces in a lego set. A set of legos containing 80 pieces comes in the mail. How many more legos are in the new set? 70+10=80 "

It was marked wrong and she was wrote in red "'comparing' means subtraction sentence. Or at least explain that the missing part is 10." Then she told me on the phone that DS didn't understand the the difference between the two sets is 10.

Now I am not confident at all in MY math abilities. Seriously. Even at this level LOL. But it seems to me that he not only did what the question asked but he also understood quite clearly the difference in the amounts between the two sets is 10, No? Am I missing something?

Oh and this nonsense with the "drawing" I am so sick of it - is this art class or math class? He flat out refuses to draw (and since he does have a writing disability, I really do not blame him!"

Maybe he should have answered with a Schrodinger equation-- after all, he doesn't KNOW how many legos are in the box until he opens it and counts them. Just that it is an integer value.


LOL.

He said 70+10=80, so obviously he knows that 80-70=10. If the teacher really, truly believes that your DS "didn't understand the the difference between the two sets is 10" then basically she's hallucinating.

This is a case where "show your work" has become an extremely pedantic ritual with an educational value that is significantly less than zero.

I see a middle ground here on the Legos question. Obviously the boy knew the difference was 10, so the teacher was just being dumb there. However, when he translated the problem into mathematical language, he did not write the correct expression.

Hmmm I guess this where my lack of math ability comes in but. I didn't realize you could only compare by subtraction.

When I was a kid back on the Stone Age, it was common to get mental tests where you just has to give the answer correctly.

What is the sum of a and b meant ADD them
What is the difference meant Subtract
What is the product meant Multiply
What is the quotient meant Divide

I think that is the meaning of 'difference' there, Irene.