Children's mathematics... Apparently

[BigGingerBob]

Good morning!

I have a Saturday teaser for you in the shadow of my niece's Year 2 homework.



This has stumped everyone I've shown it to so far.
I do know the answer and I have to say, I don't agree with it at all!

Let me know what you think the answer is and how you got there because I would love to know!

[CHLEMCBC]

I don't understand the question.

[Mike Legerwood]

The left hand could be holding anything between 3 and 30.

Add that to the 21 in the right hand and the answer could be anything from 24 to 51?

[J6542]

9 ?

[CHLEMCBC]

Mike Legerwood said:

The left hand could be holding anything between 3 and 30.

Add that to the 21 in the right hand and the answer could be anything from 24 to 51?

are they teaching the kids to play Spoof?

[BigGingerBob]

Exactly! I don't understand it at all and agree the other hand could have anything in it

[monthou]

Guessing:
Her '3 pieces of base 10' in the right hand add up to 21.
3 pieces in her left hand could range from 21 to 30.
So the total is somewhere from 42 to 51.
I think.
It's a ridiculous question.

[Antony Moxey]

I think it’s confusingly worded. Three pieces of base 10 in each hand means what she’s holding in both hands combined adds up to thirty? Therefore if she has 21 in her open hand she must have nine in her closed hand? That’s my guess but it’s a very poor question which, if they’re trying to use it as a real world example, is something that would never be asked in that way.

But I’m probably miles out.

[Bill]

Looking at the example above it'd seem the left hand would be a multiple of 10. So 3 pieces would be 30. Making 51.

Maybe.

[monthou]

I think you have to understand what 'partition' means first.
It's breaking down a number into units, tens, hundreds etc.
So just tens and units in this case (as it's a 2 digit number).

[ColinsCornflakes]

There's lots of weirdly worded stuff in kids education these days, i'm never quite sure if it's to select for the really bright kids with .maths brain (aka ASD) or just some sort of pedagogical voodoo that normal adults don't understand.

I'm pretty sure the kids who'd been set this task will have been introduced to the method and language before being tested though.

Jo's number is 21, thats in her right hand, in her left hand is 3 pieces of base ten, so could be anything from 3 to 30... oh I don't f**king know...

[595Heaven]

CHLEMCBC said:

re they teaching the kids to play Spoof?

[Hoofy]

I'm going back to bed.

Hoofy, BSc Hons Mathematics (Warwick)

[BoRED S2upid]

Mike Legerwood said:

The left hand could be holding anything between 3 and 30.

Add that to the 21 in the right hand and the answer could be anything from 24 to 51?

Correct.

It’s a very poorly written question. I doubt many in year 2 would understand it.

[Sporky]

Mike Legerwood said:

The left hand could be holding anything between 3 and 30.

I'm not sure that's right. I think each "piece" is 1, 10, 100, 1000, and so on. So I think the left hand could be holding any of:

3
12
21
30

Which means the total is any of:

24
33
42
51

But I'm not certain I understand partitioning or what it's for.

[CoolHands]

I haven t read any replies.

My answer is Deleted.

What a mess

Edited by CoolHands on Saturday 3rd October 09:39

[Andwoo]

BigGingerBob said:

Good morning!

I have a Saturday teaser for you in the shadow of my niece's Year 2 homework.



This has stumped everyone I've shown it to so far.
I do know the answer and I have to say, I don't agree with it at all!

Let me know what you think the answer is and how you got there because I would love to know!

This question is about developing thinking and reasoning, as is opens up discussion when the teacher asks for responses from the class. It could be the students are asked to think about the problem, pair up with another student to discuss it and then share their thoughts with the class.
It can seem infuriating if you are looking for just one solution, but that is not the ultimate aim.

[WelshPetrolhead]

Absolutely no idea. As said it’s 21 in one hand but there could be anything in the other.

Maths is obviously very important, but what a ridiculous question. Why can’t we spend more time teaching kids useful life stuff?

[markymarkthree]

Load of bks, no wonder kids are facked these days.
Keep it simple, 1&1 makes 11 kinda stuff.

[I Like Tea]

That’s a great question, it seems to be about teaching reasoning and logic. among many other things, prepares students for the classic interview question ‘ how many piano tuners are there in London’