I want to reflect on the math I've seen used so far.
- When counting items, the software keeps a running total. This actually takes some of the math out of the job so employees don't have to add items missed the first time manually.
- The software allows you to see how many of a particular item sold during different ads. This number isn't very useful, however, if you had one ad that lasted for a month and one ad that lasted for two days. Maybe peanut butter was on sale for $1.00 for two days in February and during those two days at a particular store, 66 jars of peanut butter were sold. Maybe there was also a month long ad in March and peanut butter was on sale for $1.50. If 674 jars of peanut butter were sold during that month, you can't compare the 674 to the 66 because they were in different lengths of time. It might be more useful to keep track of how much of an item was sold per day during different ads. Then you could get a much better idea of how many you might expect to sell during any new or future ads so you can more effectively order more product. This could be used in a lesson plan about proportional thinking.
- I made a mistake when I was trying to help out on the register at the gas station. We had to use math to figure out how much I had overcharged the customer and how much money he needed back. We had to divide his total by the price per gallon to figure out how many gallons he had payed for. Then we had to take those gallons times the discount per gallon to figure out how much money we owed him back. This wasn't something the computer did for us. We had to get some sctratch paper and a calculator, and figure it out on our own.
- Making change involves math, especially if someone gives you a nickel and a penny from their pocket, and you have to figure out in your head the new amount that you owe them.
- When counting items, the software keeps a running total. This actually takes some of the math out of the job so employees don't have to add items missed the first time manually.
- The software allows you to see how many of a particular item sold during different ads. This number isn't very useful, however, if you had one ad that lasted for a month and one ad that lasted for two days. Maybe peanut butter was on sale for $1.00 for two days in February and during those two days at a particular store, 66 jars of peanut butter were sold. Maybe there was also a month long ad in March and peanut butter was on sale for $1.50. If 674 jars of peanut butter were sold during that month, you can't compare the 674 to the 66 because they were in different lengths of time. It might be more useful to keep track of how much of an item was sold per day during different ads. Then you could get a much better idea of how many you might expect to sell during any new or future ads so you can more effectively order more product. This could be used in a lesson plan about proportional thinking.
- I made a mistake when I was trying to help out on the register at the gas station. We had to use math to figure out how much I had overcharged the customer and how much money he needed back. We had to divide his total by the price per gallon to figure out how many gallons he had payed for. Then we had to take those gallons times the discount per gallon to figure out how much money we owed him back. This wasn't something the computer did for us. We had to get some sctratch paper and a calculator, and figure it out on our own.
- Making change involves math, especially if someone gives you a nickel and a penny from their pocket, and you have to figure out in your head the new amount that you owe them.
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