Tom Lehrer: New Math

For those of you who didn't know, they used to teach mathematics a little differently. Here's how they do it now.

Song: New Math
Artist: Tom Lehrer
Album: That Was the Year that Was

Category:

Education

Tags:

• RonfarZ3
• Tom
• Lehrer
• New
• Math
• full
• version
• That
• Was
• the
• Year
• lip
• synch

[YouGot4Shotted]

What's a pirate minus the ship?

[lipsynchORswim]

An alcoholic bum.

[Arexsos]

But would the answer in Base 10 be equal to the one in Base 8?

[lipsynchORswim]

Yes, they're both equal, but because they are in different bases, the numbers are different. Just like how 100 in binary is equal to 4 in Base 10.

[Mitschu]

Hurray for new math.

[Michael Howell]

My video "Calculus for 6th Graders," for example, improves the proof for the derivatives of polynomials — but then it moves right on to the algorithm. Students will not stay arrested in child-like contemplation.

That is the fallacy of a lot of "reformed" education: It has almost an Orwellian definition of improved understanding. It often refuses to build on elementary concepts. Remember the root word "element." As we know, elements will form things much greater than the sums of their parts.

[Michael Howell]

The purpose for having students "think" about math is so that they understand how and why the efficient algorithms work. The purpose for "learning math" in the first place is to become a human calculator. The two extremes to avoid are (1) the blind learning of algorithms and (2) the eschewing of the most efficient algorithms.

The purpose of "reforming" math lessons should be to make the proofs for the algorithms as lucid, concrete, and intuitive as possible. This is what I try to do.

[TheCarrottop666]

Actually, they are not equal. Because the second problem he does is in base 8, the numbers he uses initially are different from the numbers used in the first subtraction problem, even though they are written the same on the page. When you convert the second problem to base 10, it is 226 - 123, which equals 103 in base 10. Convert 103 to base 8, and voila: it's 147. The two numbers are not the same, because you're solving different problems. Sorry to make it even more confusing.

[MindControlArtist]

Easily one of my favorites. LIsten to the whole thing.

[Teeftlis]

yeah if you use the same numbers. He uses the same digits though.

[Teeftlis]

no, it's just a bad way to teach math.

[SuperCanteloupe]

although 2+3 does =11, in base 4, 4=10 so even though 2+2=4, 4=10 so 2+2=10. 

[mabarry3]

2 + 2 still equals 4. 2 + 3 would equal 11. There is no 10 :P

[Zarrock184]

Ah ok. I understand it all now. So new math is...wrong.