localzuk Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Interesting subject came up in the office just - why do we still teach fractions as a major part of maths? Sure, knowing a half is 50% is somewhat useful but all the stuff about multiplying, adding and dividing them? What value does it provide to kids?
X-13 Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 What value does it provide to kids? 48.543% and various others. I honestly have no idea why fractions are taught. Perhaps it's so they can figure out exactly how much of their pensions the goverment are taking?
broc Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 fractions are absolute, decimals are approximations......subject to rounding errors 1
SimpleSi Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) Why do we still teach fractions as a major part of maths? The bill for a meal for five comes to £60 - how much do we pay each? would be a good example Si My question is y do we still teach English - y don't we change english so its easier learnt n stop wurkn hard trying 2 teach it! Edited December 9, 2011 by SimpleSi
SimpleSi Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) If you want to rationlise things ,we could scrap percentages and just deal in x/100ths instead. Si (But remember - its not fractions that need outlawing - its Pi - 3 cheers for Tau Edited December 9, 2011 by SimpleSi
laserblazer Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 The bill for a meal for five comes to £60 - how much do we pay each? would be a good example But if it came to £62.10 each person would pay £12.42 not £12 21/50th. You need to understand fractions to do algebra. I do question why some of the less able kids have to try and understand the more complex parts of literature, persuasive writing for example.
mjs_mjs Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 As a maths undergrad i would argue that all rational number are fractions eg 4 is actually 4/1. Fractions are therefore the building blocks of all rational numbers (that is the definition of rational after all). How would define absolutely a third without a fraction? 33% is inaccurate, as is 0.33 or 0.333 or 0.3333. 1/3 is the only way you can define and manipulate a third in maths. This argument is is the same as saying why do we have vowels in English? (rhetorical) Anyone who thinks you can do maths without fractions clearly has a lack of understanding of maths. 3
X-13 Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 As a maths undergrad i would argue that all rational number are fractions eg 4 is actually 4/1. Fractions are therefore the building blocks of all rational numbers (that is the definition of rational after all). How would define absolutely a third without a fraction? 33% is inaccurate, as is 0.33 or 0.333 or 0.3333. 1/3 is the only way you can define and manipulate a third in maths. This argument is is the same as saying why do we have vowels in English? (rhetorical) Anyone who thinks you can do maths without fractions clearly has a lack of understanding of maths. Anyone who calls it "maths" has no understanding of MATH.
SteveBentley Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Everything you need to know about Math is here 1
localzuk Posted December 9, 2011 Author Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) As a maths undergrad i would argue that all rational number are fractions eg 4 is actually 4/1. Fractions are therefore the building blocks of all rational numbers (that is the definition of rational after all). How would define absolutely a third without a fraction? 33% is inaccurate, as is 0.33 or 0.333 or 0.3333. 1/3 is the only way you can define and manipulate a third in maths. This argument is is the same as saying why do we have vowels in English? (rhetorical) Anyone who thinks you can do maths without fractions clearly has a lack of understanding of maths. Using the ... notation after the 0.33? That's how I was taught it. And if it was a sequence such as 0.27252725 then you'd do 0.2725 with dots above the 2 and 5. Also, the point is more that in general life we don't use fractions more than 'do you want half this pizza'. If they're used in the higher parts of maths as you describe, then teach them at that level, not in year 5 or whatever it is. The bill for a meal for five comes to £60 - how much do we pay each? would be a good example Si My question is y do we still teach English - y don't we change english so its easier learnt n stop wurkn hard trying 2 teach it! You'd each pay 20%? Edited December 9, 2011 by localzuk
Guest TheLibrarian Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Come the revolution I don't want to hang, draw and 25% some of the politicians, bankers etc.
Oaktech Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Come the revolution I don't want to hang, draw and 25% some of the politicians, bankers etc. really? I'm pretty sure that come the revolution you will happilly chop up whatever amount of their thieving person is left... its all symbolic after all. 1
bandgeekmafia78 Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 It would help them to work out how much of their Parent's income is going on pensions contributions...
broc Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 if you add, subtract, multiply or divide two or more fractions you still get an exact answer. Turn the fractions into decimal and you will immediately get rounding errors due to lack of precision..... how many decimal places do you allow to accurately represent 1/3? If your calculation is part of the maths behind sending a space probe to a distant star, lack of precision could mean you miss your target......
Guest TheLibrarian Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 really? I'm pretty sure that come the revolution you will happilly chop up whatever amount of their thieving person is left... its all symbolic after all. It just doesn't sound medieval enough otherwise.
Oaktech Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 It just doesn't sound medieval enough otherwise. Anyway... Ook.
localzuk Posted December 9, 2011 Author Posted December 9, 2011 if you add, subtract, multiply or divide two or more fractions you still get an exact answer. Turn the fractions into decimal and you will immediately get rounding errors due to lack of precision..... how many decimal places do you allow to accurately represent 1/3? If your calculation is part of the maths behind sending a space probe to a distant star, lack of precision could mean you miss your target...... But again, that is specialist - not every day life. Why is it taught in year 6 rather than in a later year when it specific to their subject?
broc Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Sorry, I thought it was a rhetorical question, rather than focussing on when fractions get taught in schools.
localzuk Posted December 9, 2011 Author Posted December 9, 2011 Sorry, I thought it was a rhetorical question, rather than focussing on when fractions get taught in schools. No, it is a specific thing of why we teach it in normal schools.
mjs_mjs Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Anyone who calls it "maths" has no understanding of MATH. yeah - fair play - math's it should be. 1
SimpleSi Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 You'd each pay 20%? And how did you work out that you needed to calculate 20%? Si
SimpleSi Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 It would help them to work out how much of their Parent's income is going on pensions contributions... You need a fuzzy logic porkchop plot for that one Si
witch Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 I don't think I understand the question - percentages have always been around alongside fractions and yet you talk as if something major has changed in the modern world? Did I miss something?
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