So you think you're pretty smart do ya?
So you think that kids today are getting coddled in the classrooms, and they aren't learning all the tough stuff like we had to learn?
You believe that with all the online gadgets they have at their disposal, today's young people just sail through school, relying on cyber stuff to do the tough sledding?
Well, I have a test for you then. Try them out and then pass judgment.
These little test questions from typical modern school rooms first appeared in the Globe and Mail and we're passing them along here.
Take the test. I dare you.
Let's start with this math question.
At a garage sale, there are bicycles and tricycles. Altogether there are 18 wheels. How many bicycles and tricycles are there?
How long did it take you?
Congratulations, you just answered a Grade 3 question.
My answer, was six tricycles and one broken bicycle with no wheels, offered at a reduced price.
So that's easy.
Try this on for size.
In each question below there are fewer hundreds than the member of groups. Write a "0" in the hundreds position to show that no hundreds can be placed in equal groups. Then perform the division as if the hundreds had automatically been exchanged for ten: 5/472.
My answer:
Huh? I don't even get the question.
By the way, that's a Grade 6 math problem.
Still want more?
A newspaper prints 8,762 papers. Each paper has 16 pages. A roll of newsprint can be used to print 6,150 pages. How many rolls of newsprint are required?
My answer: Please read the Mercury, it's written on newsprint that comes off one of those rolls. Isn't that interesting?
Grade 6 again.
Sandhya has to bank 331 pennies, 15 nickels, 183 dimes and 212 quarters from her piggy bank. She rolls as many coins as possible. A roll holds 50 pennies, 40 nickels, 50 dimes or 40 quarters.
How many rolls of each type of coin did she take to the bank?
What was Sandhya's total bank deposit?
My answer: Sandhya, didn't you know that we don't use pennies any more? And where is your calculator? And, by the way, could I borrow ten bucks from you?
That's a Grade 6 question again.
Finally,write the function in vertex form by completing the square. Use your answer to identify the vertex of the function. Formula: y=a (x-p) 2 + q
Question: y-x2 - 18x - 59
My answer: What's a vertex? Isn't that a new curtain material?
OK, that's a Grade 11 question, so you're excused if you couldn't get it.
The clue to one of the above questions is to use Base 10 ordinals I think.
Ya, that helps a lot. Like I mean vertex is to ordinals, like figure skating is to football in my world.
So are you smarter than a third grader?
Don't worry, I'm on the cusp, too.
Don't worry, dear diary. The kids today are just as smart as you were at the same age and definitely smarter than moi. I'll tell you one thing though, by the time I got to Grade 3, I could tie my own shoelaces without any help at all so there!
