New Math

How Math Teaching Has Changed
(or Why Students Can't Add or Subtract)

This came my way by photocopied e-mail a few years ago, and it always makes me chuckle. You may find it frighteningly close to the truth...

Take a simple math problem, subject it to 30 years of new, improved teaching methods, and deduce the formula to yield our average yearly drop in SAT scores.

IN 1960: "A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price. What is his profit?"

IN 1970: (traditional math): "A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price; in other words, $80. What is his profit?"

IN 1970: ("New Math"): "A logger exchanges a set L of lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100, and each element is worth $1. Make one hundred dots representing the elements of the set M. The set C of costs of production contains 20 fewer points than set M. Represent the set C as a subset of M, and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set P of profits?"

IN 1980: "A logger sells a truckload of wood for $100. His cost of production is $80, and his profit is $20. Your assignment is to underline the number 20."

IN 1990: "By cutting down beautiful forest trees, a logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making money? Topic for class participation: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel?"

[MHS Chem page][MHS AP Chem page]

IN 1960:	"A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price. What is his profit?"
IN 1970:	(traditional math): "A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price; in other words, $80. What is his profit?"
IN 1970:	("New Math"): "A logger exchanges a set L of lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100, and each element is worth $1. Make one hundred dots representing the elements of the set M. The set C of costs of production contains 20 fewer points than set M. Represent the set C as a subset of M, and answer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set P of profits?"
IN 1980:	"A logger sells a truckload of wood for $100. His cost of production is $80, and his profit is $20. Your assignment is to underline the number 20."
IN 1990:	"By cutting down beautiful forest trees, a logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making money? Topic for class participation: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel?"