A History of Math Lessons
Math Lessons 1950-date.
Teaching Math in 1950:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5
of the price. What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1960:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5
of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1970:
A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The
cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. The set
"C", the cost of production contains 20 fewer points than set What is the
cardinality of the set "P" of profits?
Teaching Math in 1980:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80
and his profit is $20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
Teaching Math in 1990:
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you
think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation: How did
the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees? There
are no wrong answers.
Teaching Math in 1996:
By laying off 402 of its loggers, a company improves its stock price from
$80 to $100. How much capital gain per share does the CEO make by exercising
his stock options at $80? Assume capital gains are no longer taxed, because
this encourages investment.
Teaching Math in 1997:
A company outsources all of its loggers. They save on benefits and when
demand for their product is down the logging work force can easily be cut
back. The average logger employed by the company earned $50,000, had 3 weeks
vacation, received a nice retirement plan and medical insurance. The
contracted logger charges $50 an hour. Was outsourcing a good move?
Teaching Math in 1998:
A logging company exports its wood-finishing jobs to its Indonesian
subsidiary and lays off the corresponding half of its US workers (the
higher-paid half). It clear-cuts 95% of the forest, leaving the rest for the
spotted owl, and lays off all its remaining US workers. It tells the workers
that the spotted owl is responsible for the absence of fellable trees and
lobbies Congress for exemption from the Endangered Species Act. Congress
instead exempts the company from all federal regulation. What is the return
on investment of the lobbying?
