5th-grade student’s exam question has left adults stumped - ITT: Kiwis MATI because they can't Math

(Article, archive)
One sibling has been left scratching their head at their younger brother’s Year 5 math exam.

The question, shared to Reddit, asks students to figure out how many pages are in a book.

“Klein read 30 pages of a book on Monday and one eighth of the book on Tuesday,” the question read.

“He completed the remaining quarter of the book on Wednesday. How many pages are there in the book?”

Some social media users were immediately stumped by the question.


One person commented: “And now we can all see why “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” worked as a game show.”

“Today I learned I would fail fifth grade math,” another said on the thread.

One passionate person said: “I always think to my self; ‘Ugh. People should really be tested with basic skills before they’re allowed to go out into society.”

“And then I see this and realize I shouldn’t go out into society LOL!”

Not everyone agreed the question difficult.

“Not to be rude, but what is interesting about this,” one said.

“It looks just like any other math problem that I’ve done in 5th grade.”

Someone with a PhD in engineering, with a focus on applied mathematics, said it wasn’t difficult to work out but it came with the assumption that Klein started the book on Monday.

Once you have that, you divide 30 pages by five to see how much one eighth is worth, with the answer being six.

Math lovers then just do the simple multiplication of eight times six, with the answer being 48, and the equation is solved.

---

Really hate how math illiterate our society is. This problem is a basic equation

Spoiler: Math solution

30+x/8+×/4=x

where x is the #of pages read, and the 3 counts they give you have to add up to x.

we multiply by 8 to make our lives easier

240+x+2x=8x

then we bring the xs to one side
240 = 8x-x-2x
add the xs
240= 5x
then divide by 5
48=x

I hate people who suck at math

 

[byuu]

Calculating is for niggers.
Just type "solve 30 + 1 over 8 x= 3 over 4 x" into Wolfram Alpha

 

[Otterly]

The scary part is, it's not math as much as it is reading comprehension. I mean sure there the whole fraction and solution thing going on; but the key point of any word problem is understanding what's being asked of you. When you look at test scores and see the low marks and how math and science is always lower than English, it's because they need a certain level of English to get by in life; trying something abstract when they already have a shit understanding eventually becomes impossible.

This is the point. It’s a maths problem framed in a life situation, so it requires steps before you get the actual equation. You could probably frame this much more simply. And you could also argue that the verbal framing makes it simpler for people who are more verbal. It’s not a difficult problem but any issues with either the maths or the verbal reasoning could hinder a kid from getting this.
How old are fifth grade kids in America?

 

[Rykel22]

How old are fifth grade kids in America?

10-11 years old

 

[quaawaa]

How old are fifth grade kids in America?

I thought myself basic algebra in 4th grade since my school's curriculum wad slow as fuck. While American education varies, my school as far as I remember
5th pre-algrebra
6th pre-algebra
7th Algebra
8th Geometry
9th Algebra 2
10th math analysis/precalc/trigonometry
11th Calculus AB
12th Calculus BC

That is a mid-level math track. The lowest track starts Algebra 1 in high school (Grade 9) and only two years of math are required which means that students on that path will graduate high school having only taken Algebra 1 and Geometry. Kids on the highest normal track enter high school taking pre-calc and will take university math (Calculus 3, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, etc.) in their senior year.

The low standard requirements are the reason why the ACT and SAT, which are meant for all high school students, only cover Algebra 1 and Geometry in the math section. Note to international students who took American standardized tests for admission to university: acing the ACT/SAT math section isn't an achievement and the Gaokao/similar tests' equivalents aren't very difficult for Americans who have actually studied math.

Pre-calc is a useless class that repeats Algebra 2 material and covers the first part of Calculus AB at a glacial pace. Pre-algebra (the class, not everything before Algebra) is similarly useless. Modern schools slow down math education by two years for no reason, even for kids who are good at math unless their parents fight to have them test out of the useless classes.

 

[Otterly]

I would expect a 10-11 year old to be capable of solving this.

 

[LurkTrawl]

The correct answer is to stop being autistic and just ask Klein how many pages are in the book like a normal human fucking being.

 

[CaptainAutism69]

In every exam you have questions for different abilities of students. window lickers will be able to answer the simple ones, advanced students will be able to answer the higher level ones. Every year these kinds of MSM pieces are vomited out, alongside whatever commentry (OMG OUR KIDS ARE SOOOO CLEVER, or OMG THE EXPECTATIONS ON OUR KIDS ARE TOO HIGH!) they want to push.
This is probably a mid to higher level question and helps identify kids who are decent at maths so they can be pushed further and higher next time instead of sitting there dribbling with Tyrone.

 

[Stoneheart]

The problem is the way its written. No field just swings back and forth like that. Its also more common to use percentages than fractions, especially for odd fractions like 1/8. Also the question has no applicability, its literally pointless.

Its perfectly written for 5th graders... you have all the information in the text and have to find out what nubers goes where.
Also why would you not use fractions for this?

This is the point. It’s a maths problem framed in a life situation, so it requires steps before you get the actual equation. You could probably frame this much more simply. And you could also argue that the verbal framing makes it simpler for people who are more verbal. It’s not a difficult problem but any issues with either the maths or the verbal reasoning could hinder a kid from getting this.

You want kids to be able to get an equation from text or a situation, so using examples like this is very important.

I also dont understand what they are trying to do...

30+x/8+×/4=x

where x is the #of pages read, and the 3 counts they give you have to add up to x.

we multiply by 8 to make our lives easier

240+x+2x=8x

then we bring the xs to one side
240 = 8x-x-2x
add the xs
240= 5x
then divide by 5
48=x

Is just a stupid way to solve it and not helpful if you want to teach kids basic stuff...

I would expect a 10-11 year old to be capable of solving this.

3rd or 4th grade would be the right time for this. its very basic fractions.

This is probably a mid to higher level question and helps identify kids who are decent at maths so they can be pushed further and higher next time instead of sitting there dribbling with Tyrone.

what? its a very easy question.

 

[Johnny Salami]

Kids on the highest normal track enter high school taking pre-calc and will take university math (Calculus 3, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, etc.) in their senior year.

Huh? There is not AP Calc 3, diffyQs, or linear courses. The only way a high school student would be able to do so is if they take the classes at an actual college as a duel enrolled student. For the students that usually took AP Calc BC in 11th grade they either made them take AP stats (which is easy, especially after calculus) or not take a math class for their senior year

 

[quaawaa]

Huh? There is not AP Calc 3, diffyQs, or linear courses. The only way a high school student would be able to do so is if they take the classes at an actual college as a duel enrolled student. For the students that usually took AP Calc BC in 11th grade they either made them take AP stats (which is easy, especially after calculus) or not take a math class for their senior year

The top math students in high school take dual-enrollment college classes in their junior/senior years at the local community college or university (or online if the city doesn't have one). Your school was screwing over those kids by making them take AP Stats instead.

 

[AMERICA]

i solved it, idk probably not the most elegant solution though. I kinda suck at math lol

30 + 12.5% = 75% so therefore 30 represents 62.5% of the entire book (75% - 12.5%). then do cross multiplication, 30/x = 62.5/100.. so (30 *100) / 62.5 = x

x = 48

edit: enjoying going through the thread and seeing how other people solved it, interesting how everyone tackles it differently. My method was definitely more convoluted than it needed to be, I like the simpler methods better.

 

[Johnny Salami]

The top math students in high school take dual-enrollment college classes in their junior/senior years at the local community college or university (or online if the city doesn't have one). Your school was screwing over those kids by making them take AP Stats instead.

Yeah, working at a CC college taught me a lot. I learned about dual enrolment and how school districts would fight us since money that went to pay for a students college classes was money taken from their school. I still think Stats is a useful class for general data and statistical understanding but a waste if you're trying to get your degree done in 4 years (and engineering is honestly hard to get in 4 years unless you get lucky in getting the classes you need)

 

[Positron]

View attachment 4601580

This type of thinking drives me bonkers. Education is not supposed to be vocational training. Regardless of what you do for a living, as a human being you need to work you brain and learn about the intellectual achievements of your fellow men. Curiously the argument "Why do I need to learn trigonometry? I never need sine or cosine in my work!" is most prevalent among literary types, who vouchsafe us how literature is indispensable in understanding the human condition and engendering empathy.

 

[Lifeguard Hermit]

It's not a hard or bad algebra question it's just the fact that the sheeboon that write this shit for saxonmath barely graduated herself without accomodations. Editor is a similar diversity hire that actually doesn't give a fuck then boom. Retarded math problem wording

 

[Dropsies]

If you as an adult don't have the reading comprehension or basic reasoning skills to understand this question you deserve to be euthanized.

 

[Bungdit Din]

^Thanks for the explanations about 'Murican 'grades' and all that - and thanks for the ask - always been baffled by the system, but never interested enough to look it up.

 

[SpergioLeonne]

I literally glanced at what they were bitching about and my brain interjected with “bro, 5/8ths is 30, so 1/8 is 6. 6 times 8 is 48.”

It’s fucking dumb, I’m a highschool drop out and common core gave you kids brain cancer.

 

[The Luigi Player]

I thought myself basic algebra in 4th grade since my school's curriculum wad slow as fuck. While American education varies, my school as far as I remember
5th pre-algrebra
6th pre-algebra
7th Algebra
8th Geometry
9th Algebra 2
10th math analysis/precalc/trigonometry
11th Calculus AB
12th Calculus BC

I was good at math so I only spent a year in each class. But I started learning the basics of Algebra in 5th grade. I believe it was doing good here that placed me in the accelerated math class once I went to muddle school

In algebra you usually have an unknown you're trying to solve for, the point being you want to solve for the total number of pages read.

you see, since people suck at math now they are removing calculus BC from 12th grade and replacing it with calculus AB.

 

[DeeDee Megadoodoo]

...he completed the final 1/4 of the book on Wednesday.

Describe how you are fighting white supremacy and why trans women are real women.

 

[Haramburger]

Lol it took me a second of thinking about it but I ended up with 48... I didn't get it the elegant way though, kinda just brute forced the numbers in my head till it worked.

Same, the words in this word problem are an exceptional distraction. If you re-wrote the problem to be about anything else, like counting out metal parts or some other abstraction it would be an easier initial analysis. Because it's written about a book, it's confusing because there's assumptions about likely book page lengths, and the behavior of how much you might read in a day across a three-day read. It would NOT take me 3 days to get through a 48 page book. This almost steers you away from that possible answer even when you attempt the math.

This is an especially cruel problem for 5th graders, and social media bait for boomers.