> For the students or the teacher? I thought similarly, but it would not have been politic to say it.
The teacher was good. She facilitated the discussion very well, and thought the whole thing was "excellent". (I myself thought it was miraculous, seeing as how I only had 20 minutes.) She suggested I talk to the high schoolers because I would then have greater scope for what I can talk about. On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 11:41 AM, Thomas Costigliola <[email protected]>wrote: > On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 2:05 PM, Roger Hui <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I got myself invited to talk to a grade 7 math class at my kids' school. > I > > was given 20 minutes. The following is a record of the session of my > talk, > > with my comments added afterwards. > > > > 2 + 3 > > 5 > > 2 - 3 > > _1 > > 2 * 3 > > 6 > > 2 % 3 > > 0.666667 > > 2 % 5 > > 0.4 > > > > NB. I was told that the talk I had was "too advanced", so my goal > > For the students or the teacher? > > > NB. was to get across one main simple idea, the following one. > > > > 2 3 4 + 8 1 7 > > 10 4 11 > > > > NB. a student thought that 2 3 4 was 234, and gave 1052 > > NB. as the expected answer. > > > > 234 + 817 > > 1051 > > > > 2 3 4 - 8 1 7 > > _6 2 _3 > > 2 3 4 * 8 1 7 > > 16 3 28 > > > > NB. Some students seem quite smart, so I slipped in "insert". > > > > +/ 2 3 4 > > 9 > > */ 2 3 4 > > 24 > > 2+3+4 > > 9 > > > > NB. a student asked about order of operations > > > > 2 + 4 * 3 > > 14 > > 2 * 4 + 3 > > 14 > > (2 * 4) + 3 > > 11 > > > > NB. I wanted to tell them the story of Gauss as a schoolboy > > NB. summing the numbers from 1 to 100 in no time flat. > > > > +/ 1 2 3 4 5 > > 15 > > 1 2 3 4 5 + 5 4 3 2 1 > > 6 6 6 6 6 > > 5 * 6 % 2 > > 15 > > 100 * 101 % 2 > > 5050 > > 1 2 3 4 ... + 100 99 98 ... > > |spelling error > > | 1 2 3 4 ... + 100 99 98 ... > > | ^ > > > > NB. a student asked about exponentiation > > > > 2 ^ 3 > > 8 > > 4 ^ 3 > > 64 > > 2 4 ^ 3 2 > > 8 16 > > > > 2 ^ 123 > > 1.06338e37 > > > > NB. A student ask where he can get the software. Another asked "PC or > > Mac?" > > > > At the end, the teacher suggested I go talk to the high school (8-12) > > classes. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
