Math Meth(od). Great, Now It Sounds Like I’m Saying OD on Meth.

by Marinka on November 18, 2009

I had a friend who bounced a check in Texas once. I’m not sure how she evaded execution, but one of the things that she was ordered to do was to attend psychobabbly classes about why she bounced the check and how she and others who also bounced checks felt about it.
She thought that she bounced the check because she didn’t have enough money in her checking account to cover it and she felt like she wanted to have more money. It wasn’t the answer that the group leader was looking for, but it made a lot of sense to me.

So did seeing my daughter’s math homework this week.
Here’s the problem. It’s called Find the Number.

1. I am a number less than 100.
2. I am even.
3. I’m a multiple of 8.
4. If you add my digits together, the sum will be a prime number.
What am I?
So, she figured that it was (spoiler alert!) 56.

Great, problem solved, Miller time. But then the next question is “If someone told you that they were having trouble solving this problem, how would you help them?”

And she wrote, “I’d tell them that the answer is 56.”
I suspect that this isn’t what the teacher was looking for.

One year ago ...

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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

Maureen@IslandRoar November 18, 2009 at 9:10 am

Nice. Simple and to the point.
I predict she will go places.
.-= Maureen@IslandRoar´s last blog ..Best Blog Award =-.

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MsDolfinn November 18, 2009 at 10:11 am

Little do I know…I thought the answer was 32. Whoops!

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Marinka November 18, 2009 at 10:14 am

omg. That works too. Math dilemma!

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the mama bird diaries November 18, 2009 at 10:11 am

School is hard.

Your daughter is obviously brilliant.

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Kathy November 18, 2009 at 10:56 am

Why is her math teacher trying to teach her tricks, just teach math for god sakes!
Sadly I haven’t a clue what the number is I’m math challenged.
I agree with Kelcey your daughter is brilliant you should be so proud.

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hokgardner
Twitter:
November 18, 2009 at 11:00 am

I am so asking your daughter for help the next time I have math homework. I like how she thinks.
.-= hokgardner´s last blog ..Day 17 =-.

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Lindsey November 18, 2009 at 11:10 am

It could be worse she could say something off the wall like “I want to sing Lady Gaga’s Poker Face” Like my ELEVEN year old SON put for his career goal. I was the proud parent at Parent Teacher Conferences.
.-= Lindsey´s last blog ..Zaberisms =-.

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Aunt Becky
Twitter:
November 18, 2009 at 12:32 pm

Your daughter is awesome. Because I would buy her something if she did my math homework for me.
.-= Aunt Becky´s last blog ..Today We Fight =-.

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SubWife November 18, 2009 at 2:06 pm

16 also works! And #2 is unnecessary as all multiples of 8 are even numbers. (Just trying to prove that I am a nerd.)

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Keyona
Twitter:
November 18, 2009 at 2:42 pm

Oh Marinka, looks like you’ve got a genious on your hands….
.-= Keyona´s last blog ..What Do I Do? =-.

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Elise November 18, 2009 at 3:49 pm

I have a severe case of math anxiety. Honest.

And therefore I never write checks. Or go to Texas.
.-= Elise´s last blog ..Out Ye Pest of the Night =-.

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CSY November 18, 2009 at 4:28 pm

SMART Girl!!! I used to be fairly decent in math…until my 4th grader came home with homework I couldn’t help him with…thank gawd my 2nd grade 8 yr old was there to help!
.-= CSY´s last blog ..My Weekend =-.

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Heather, Queen of Shake Shake November 18, 2009 at 4:39 pm

With clarity like that, we can surmise she won’t have a career as a politician. Or teacher. I’m guessing she’ll be the next Buddha.
.-= Heather, Queen of Shake Shake´s last blog ..Decorating with Slave Labor =-.

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amy2boys
Twitter:
November 18, 2009 at 4:58 pm

I’m so not a math girl I don’t even care about the answer to this riddle. I scrolled down looking for the answer and didn’t even try to figure out why 56 might be correct. I would have liked to sit next to your daughter in math class though. I like her teaching style. (I despise math riddles. And balancing my checkbook. (I may have met your friend in psycho overspend school.) )
.-= amy2boys´s last blog ..The Master List =-.

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jessica November 18, 2009 at 5:04 pm

I will not even address how long it would have taken me to figure that out and I’m not kidding

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mrsblogalot November 18, 2009 at 5:20 pm

The answer is clear. She is smarter than her teacher…and me

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Carolyn Online
Twitter:
November 18, 2009 at 7:44 pm

I think that was the best answer one could give.
.-= Carolyn Online´s last blog ..Scott is going to kill me for this one. =-.

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Theta Mom
Twitter:
November 18, 2009 at 8:27 pm

She’s a deep thinker. 😉 And I laughed out loud when you said Miller time!

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Elisa
Twitter:
November 19, 2009 at 1:29 pm

yeah, that’s because the teacher is a little knowitall bitch and your daughter is an angel from heaven who, hello? actually wants to help people not be a tease.

awesome response 🙂
.-= Elisa´s last blog ..If you think three is a crowd, try standing in line for Jimmy Choo for H&M =-.

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