Son's teacher needs to go back to school

halibut2209

Last week, my 8-yr-old son got this for his homework. He was unsure what to do, so I explained it to him.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it should be the following

Even numbers less than 31 go in the left
Even numbers greater than 30 go in the middle
Odd numbers greater than 30 go in the right
Odd numbers less than 31 go outside both circles

So he filled it all out correctly. Next day, he came home upset as the teacher had marked it all wrong. She says that ">30" means "less than 30"

I'm not missing something here am I? Has the fundamental core of the unending science of mathematics been changed in the last few years?

skylight

As there isn't a 30 or 31 then there is no confusion there.
In the center should be 20, 10, 28 - in the centre go those even and less than 30 numbers.
To the left should be 32, 46, 50, 80 and 48 Even Numbers - all go in this circle
In the right should be 25, 23, 5, 29, 1 - less than 30 - all go in this circle


Error! 65 and 35 should be outside the set. Dumb me...

browneyedbazzi

You're not losing it, you're quite right, > means greater than and < means less than (it's even a bit like a wonky L so it's easy to remember).

Nicki

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

You're not losing it, you're quite right, > means greater than and < means less than (it's even a bit like a wonky L so it's easy to remember).

Or the arrow always points to the lowest number which is how I remember it.

*max*

You are right, >30 means numbers greater than 30. I would email or call the teacher!

Gavin83

Yep >30 means 'more than' 30 so the teacher is wrong. Great news for your sons education.

skylight

Nicki wrote: »

Or the arrow always points to the lowest number which is how I remember it.

We were taught to look at is as a crocodile that eats the biggest number!

So the croc is not trying to eat 30, therefore its the smaller number = less than.


Amazing how many methods there are out there! And how we don't agree with it!

I interpret is as less than still. The sign means greater than but it is before 30. If it were after 30 it would be 30 greater than - but here it states something is greater than 30.

To remember which way around the "<" and ">" signs go, just remember:

• BIG > small So Something (such as 31) >30 means 30 is the smaller number.
• small < BIG

Final_Days

I suppose even teachers aren't infallible and make mistakes now and again. Not saying it's right but this could just be a one-off slip. At the end of the day they're human just like the rest of us.

vickiem30

I remember it as the lesser number being in the jaws of a crocodile, as well; works for me!!

halibut2209

Don't get me started. The next homework was using "looking at multiplication using chunking"

Chunking???? What the hell is that?

Just do long muliplication like normal people!!!

chocdonuty

I read that differently (although I always get less than/more than muddled lol) but I would put:
All even numbers in the right circle
All numbers less than 30 in the right
Numbers that are below 30 AND even in the centre
The odd ones out, 35 and 65 should go outside the circles as they don't fit inside