Comments on: [PS] My Favorite Orange

By: Learning as lies | Oliver Quinlan

Learning as lies | Oliver Quinlan — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:10:01 +0000

[…] Thanks, textbooks, taken from dy/dan (well worth reading for more discussion of this particular pseudo context) (function(d, s, id) { […]

By: Why real data is important in teaching | Stats Chat

Why real data is important in teaching | Stats Chat — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 07:25:42 +0000

[…] FromÂ Intriguing Mathematical Problems, Dover Publications, and Dan Meyer […]

By: Social Media and My Students, Part 1: Is “Online” the New Wild West? « shifting phases

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 03:30:58 +0000

[…] its underlying structure is like solving a math problem without noticing that it’s about a nine-pound orange.Â As with pseudocontext, this generalization can lead our thinking toward “bizarre […]

By: Context: The Mathematical Cerberus | Irrational Cube

Context: The Mathematical Cerberus | Irrational Cube — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 04:08:53 +0000

[…] are ones whichÂ the context does not serve any purpose in the problem.Â A perfect example is My Favorite Orange:Â “My favorite orange weight nine tenths of its weight plus nine tenths of a pound.Â What does […]

By: Michael Paul Goldenberg

Michael Paul Goldenberg — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:36:38 +0000

My son (h.s. sophomore, in 2nd year algebra) mentioned to me apropos of his homework (and with no mention by me of My Favorite Orange or pseudocontextual problems) that he hates problems where you would never actually do the math to find the answer, e.g., your store receives 14 containers of eggs. If each container has 12 cartons of eggs and each carton holds 12 eggs, how many eggs did you receive? He said, “Wouldn’t you just check your order? Wouldn’t you probably KNOW how many eggs you needed when you placed your order?”

While the specifics he mentioned may not be exactly right, the general notion he had was dead on: blah, blah, blah. . . so what is Juan’s salary? Why not ask Juan?

By: Barry Lewis

Barry Lewis — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:13:19 +0000

Additionally, what if there was a list of exotic animals and among them were cats and birds. If the cats couldn’t share a trailer with the other animals, then what is the least number of trailers she would need? I don’t see where context interferes with mathematical thinking or where it constitutes a cumbersome, wholly unintelligible scenario. It is a simple, accessible story line that actually affords a fair amount of conceptual scalability, seems to me.

By: Barry Lewis

Barry Lewis — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:01:53 +0000

correction: […IN just one trip?]

By: Barry Lewis

Barry Lewis — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:59:52 +0000

@Derrick(#23)–I don’t see the downside of inviting a 3rd grader to imagine that she is driving circus animals around. And what if 1 animal at most could ride beside her in a cart that pulls trailers that can carry up to four animals each. How many trailers would she need to hook together if she wanted to take all 31 animals to the Big Top i just one trip? Seems like a fine context to me.

By: Zeno

Zeno — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:01:10 +0000

To explain my earlier comment, the term “MacGuffin” was used by film director Alfred Hitchcock to refer to a plot element that is pivotal as the goal motivating the characters, but the particulars of which are of no importance to the plot. The audience does not need to know what the MacGuffin is to comprehend the plot or enjoy the film. It is characteristic of a MacGuffin that it could be replaced by something else without significantly altering the plot of the film.

Like the MacGuffin in a Hitchcock film, the orange in this problem could be replaced by an apple or an automobile or anything else without changing the mathematical solution. That is typical of math problems which are intended to test specific math skills. The “real-world” context in which the problem is framed is not really important because the math does not depend on it.

By: Derrick Bowman

Derrick Bowman — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:17:29 +0000

Just taught my two MATH 305 classes about pseudocontext today. Today was their introduction to writing simple division word problems for 3rd graders and one group came up with a perfect example of pseudocontext.

“A circus is in town. They have 31 exotic animals. If each golf cart can carry 4 animals at a time, how many trips does 1 golf cart have to take to get all the animals if 4 ride at a time?”

This group made the most perfect segway into the topic of the day. I love teaching that class!