Fwd: Teaching Math Through the Years...mid week humor

From: RoyJRATC@aol.com
Date: Wed Nov 18 1998 - 17:37:52 EET


All too true!

Roy Sheppard
ATC


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Teaching Math in 1950:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production
is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1960:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production
is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1970:
A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The
cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make
100 dots representing the elements of the set "M". The set "C", the
cost of production contains 20 fewer points than set "M." Represent
the set "C" as a subset of set "M" and answer the following question:
What is the cardinality of the set "P" for profits?

Teaching Math in 1980:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. Her cost of production
is $80 and her profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number
20.

Teaching Math in 1990:
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do
you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class
participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds
and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? There are no
wrong answers.

Teaching Math in 1996:
By laying off 40% of its loggers, a company improves its stock price
from $80 to $100. How much capital gain per share does the CEO make by
exercising his stock options at $80? Assume capital gains are no
longer taxed, because this encourages investment.

Teaching Math in 1997:
A company outsources all of its loggers. The firm saves on benefits,
and when demand for its product is down, the logging work force can
easily be cut back. The average logger employed by the company earned
$50,000, had three weeks vacation, a nice retirement plan and medical
insurance. The contracted logger charges $50 an hour. Was outsourcing
the loggers a good move for the company?

Teaching Math in 1998:
A laid-off logger with four kids at home and a ridiculous alimony
from his first failed marriage comes into the logging-company
corporate offices and goes postal, mowing down 16 executives and a
couple of secretaries, and gets lucky when he nails a politician on
the premises collecting his kickback. Was outsourcing the loggers a
good move for the company?

Teaching Math in 1999:
A laid-off logger serving time in Folsom for blowing away several
people is being trained as a COBOL programmer in order to work on Y2K
projects. What is the probability that the automatic cell doors will
open on their own as of 00:01, 01/01/2000?

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