Why Study Algebra?

[AUAZD2001]

If he is interested in history and reading, go to the library (are those around anymore?) and check out books about the history of algebra. Also use his love of reading as an algebra problem. If I can read x pages per hour, and the book I want to read is y pages long, how long will it take me to read it? Algebra is useful when planning ahead to make sure you have enough time to complete tasks.

[HQWest]

OK MC - I know that we are talking about your son, but has anyone seen these?

http://www.amazon.com/Math-Doesnt-Su...2508229&sr=1-5

They are written by Danica McKeller (Winnie from the Wonder Years) and supposed to be really good (provided you are a 13-year-old girl).

I also have to add that I didn't like math and was actually told at one point (in third grade) by a teacher that I would never amount to much because I wasn't very good at it. (Good enough to be in the Honors class, but I struggled to keep up). Anyhow - mom sent the teacher an invite to Commencement when I got my Ph.D.

I actually wish I had taken more math in college, not because I use it every day, but because I have to have an idea of what I am seeing or what other data is presented is reasonable. Is my technical instrument working and or are these computational results reliable?

The example I have that I use all the time is - if there are 3 midterms that will constitute 60% of your grade, but you get to drop the lowest of the three, and the final is worth 40%, how do you figure out what grade you need to make on the final to get an A for the semester?

{90-[(x+y)/2]*.6}/0.4 = Final

Another way to get young MC's attention - he needs to know algebra so that when he is a big hot shot, he can tell if his accountants are telling him the truth or have an idea if his employees are skimming off the top.

ETA: LOL Thought of another one - I need algebra to know if the numbers from the RFM program are legit or if there's been a mistake.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AUAZD2001

If he is interested in history and reading, go to the library (are those around anymore?) and check out books about the history of algebra. Also use his love of reading as an algebra problem. If I can read x pages per hour, and the book I want to read is y pages long, how long will it take me to read it? Algebra is useful when planning ahead to make sure you have enough time to complete tasks.

This is what I was getting at early in the thread, though. He can easily figure out how long it takes to read the book using the formula you describe as that is pretty basic, which leads to the next question: "I've known how to do that for years, so why do I need to learn all this other stuff?"

As for reading, maybe I should have been a little more specific -- he likes to read fiction. He likes history if it's the history of something he otherwise finds interesting. If mom or I suggest something he might like to read, that's almost a guarantee that he won't read it (welcome to the world of the teen-age boy). So reading a history of algebra just isn't going to happen. (And I can't say I'd disagree -- the mere thought of it makes my eyes glaze over.)

Originally Posted by HQWest

OK MC - I know that we are talking about your son, but has anyone seen these?

http://www.amazon.com/Math-Doesnt-Su...2508229&sr=1-5

They are written by Danica McKeller (Winnie from the Wonder Years) and supposed to be really good (provided you are a 13-year-old girl).

I've heard they are quite good, but again -- 14-year-old boy.

The example I have that I use all the time is - if there are 3 midterms that will constitute 60% of your grade, but you get to drop the lowest of the three, and the final is worth 40%, how do you figure out what grade you need to make on the final to get an A for the semester?

{90-[(x+y)/2]*.6}/0.4 = Final

LOL. I would say that looks like Greek to me, but I can at least make heads or tails out of Greek.

We are seeing some improvement -- slow but sure improvement. Like I said upthread, the idea of thinking of it as learning the basics of the language seemed to get some traction. And frankly, we're finally getting traction with the "because you have to sooner or later, and the sooner you deal with it, the sooner you won't have to take it anymore unless you want to." I think he may (finally) see high school on the horizon and he knows grades will matter then.

Thanks again to all.

[MysticCat]

Bumping for an update:

Son decided (thanks in part to some suggestions here, thanks in part to great tutoring and probably thanks in part to some video-game grounding) both that he could do the algebra and that he needed to do it.

Although he didn't do great on the last test before the mid-term, he took advantage of the chance to improve his grade by correcting the questions he missed. All of his corrections were right. As a result, he got a D for the quarter instead of failing. We'll take passing.

But more impressive was that he actually studied for the mid-term -- perhaps more and over a longer period of time than he has ever studied for anything before. He was trying really hard not to just beam when he told us (as matter-of-factly as he could) that he made a 92 on the mid-term. That was well above the class average. He would have made an A (93 and above), but he missed what he said was the easiest question -- the kind you can only miss if you misread it, which he did. (There's another lesson for him -- read carefully.)

The result, even though he made Ds both quarters, his semester grade is a C thanks to the mid-term. I don't think we've ever been so proud of or made such a fuss over a C before. He got to choose where he wanted to go for a celebration dinner (meaning he picked where he likes the desserts best). And he's gotten lots of positive feedback from his teacher about how well he has been doing. We seem to have hit the point of confidence and success building on each other.

Just thought I'd share.

[carnation]

^^ Like!