An example of why children struggle with math...

[RedAngie]

I forgot. This is the Dis. All business, no play. No silly frivolity, or foolish comedy allowed.

Of course it also begs the question. How do they fit 152 political action committees in the "plastic containers?"

Eh, the accumulated value of 152 political action committees wouldn't even fill 1/4 of the plastic container.

 

[sam_gordon]

I doubt that kids are going to overthink it this thoroughly. It's not math, it isn't equations, it's just words and symbols.

Exactly. How can this be an example of why kids struggle with math, when they're not the ones doing the shopping?

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Interesting. I though metric was the only system taught in Canadian School since the late 1970s.

As a Canadian math and science teacher, I can tell you that the only places that the US/Imperial system of measures is really used (at least in BC), is in Woodworking, Foods class, and in the conversions unit of Math 10 (after covering metric conversions, other systems of measurement are then introduced).

I teach Physics, and all our calculations are in SI units (metres, kilograms, celsius, etc.) While discussing the Celsius and Kelvin scales during our thermodynamics chapter, we had a brief discussion of the Fahrenheit system. Only two students could tell me the freezing point of water and none knew the boiling point (although all of them knew it in Celsius, of course). After many years teaching, I can confidently say that Canadian kids these days have no real concept of what a yard or mile means, and are completely unfamiliar with using fractional units for measurement (1/4", 1/2", etc.).

Yes, there are a few holdovers from the 'old system'. For example, people generally refer to their height and weight in feet/inches and pounds, but even that is slowly disappearing. The main place you see the imperial system, though, is in cooking. I suspect this is because recipes are handed down, generation to generation, and most don't want to bother switching their recipes to mL and grams.

 

[kdonnel]

Exactly. How can this be an example of why kids struggle with math, when they're not the ones doing the shopping?

Do your kids never venture outside your home with you?

They take in their surroundings much more then many people realize. Presenting them with confusing or misleading advertising is not being a good corporate citizen.

 

[kdonnel]

I tried to explain to you but I guess you didn't get it.

I understand what you are saying, Tide Pods is not unlike Xerox, it refers to the brand and the product.

I am saying that is confusing and should be avoided.

Tide refers to the product in a group as Pods, as an individual Pac as a Pod, as a group of them as Pacs, and as in individual one as a Pod.

 

[NYCgrrl]

"
An example of why children struggle with math..."

Also adults....

 

[kaytieeldr]

Do your kids never venture outside your home with you?

They take in their surroundings much more then many people realize. Presenting them with confusing or misleading advertising is not being a good corporate citizen.

It's not confusing. It's not math. It's shorthand (not really) text using numbers: "one of these 72 ounce packages contains the same amount of product as six of those 12 ounce packages." No reasonably-thinking person would interpret the information as an equation. Think about it:
72=6/12*
6÷12=.5
72=.5? Seriously??

*Never mind that there is spacing and a difference in font size, both of which are clearly intended to indicate that this is not an equation

 

[ronandannette]

It’s like toilet paper math!

Oh dear Lord, is there anything more confounding than trying to decipher which toilet paper is the best deal on the fly? Sheets per roll, rolls per pack, single rolls or double, how many ply and the the price per package varies from $6 to $20 dollars...(not sure what you pay there but an 16 pack of double-roll Charmin Ultra here is $20).

when we were in canada this summer we noticed it varied store to store and remarked on it to one of the local residents. they complained that they wished it would just be consistent-one or the other or prominently displayed/advertised in both b/c they had multiple kids varying in ages and their local school district had waffled over the years on what system they taught in a given year.

Nope - not possible. As a teacher detailed upthread, the only context in which imperial measure would be taught is in relation to conversion and that would be in classes where practical application is required, not math class.

I was just beginning school when the metric system was adopted, was always taught it but yet I still tend to “think” in imperial. I can do basic conversions very easily in my head though.

We do live with a rather strange confluence of the two systems, practically speaking. Most of us imagine height and weight in feet and pounds and recipe measurements are in cups and tbsp/tsp but distance is in kilometres and temperature is Celsius. I work in construction and have done so for 30 years - I’ve never once seen a set of blueprints drawn in metric, nor are building materials sold that way.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Do your kids never venture outside your home with you?

They take in their surroundings much more then many people realize. Presenting them with confusing or misleading advertising is not being a good corporate citizen.

If you’re worried about misleading or false advertising and corporations being responsible, this is definitely not the hill to die on, this isn’t even a blip on the radar.

 

[soccerdad72]

Damn, folks had slow weekends, apparently.

 

[RedAngie]

I was just beginning school when the metric system was adopted, was always taught it but yet I still tend to “think” in imperial. I can do basic conversions very easily in my head though.

We do live with a rather strange confluence of the two systems, practically speaking. Most of us imagine height and weight in feet and pounds and recipe measurements are in cups and tbsp/tsp but distance is in kilometres and temperature is Celsius. I work in construction and have done so for 30 years - I’ve never once seen a set of blueprints drawn in metric, nor are building materials sold that way.

We started learning the metric system in junior high circa 1973. The US was supposed to be fully metric by 1984 or so and the teachers stressed it would be vital to know it. Lots of kids (and most adults) were resistant to change but I picked it up fairly quickly and can still approximate the conversions rather accurately.

The exit numbers on Delaware Highway 1 are designated in kilometers instead of miles. The road was planned during the 1970s but wasn't built until the late 80s and early 90s, and the State Department of Transportation retained the original planned exit numbers.

(We were also encouraged to take Russian and/or Japanese language classes back then, but not many did. Supposedly everybody would need to know English, Russian, and Japanese by the early 1980s.)

 

[Hikergirl]

Do your kids never venture outside your home with you?

They take in their surroundings much more then many people realize. Presenting them with confusing or misleading advertising is not being a good corporate citizen.

So what is illegal, unethical or economically irresponsible in using a symbol the correct way?
It isn't the big bad corporation's fault that some people have no understanding of the English language.
Lord help the kids who have parents who believe it is.

 

[Christine]

Yes, it is really awkward to write "6 examples of the 12 ounce package" the way we actually say it: "6 (pause) 12 ounce packages". I've seen:

6 - 12 oz. packages
6, 12 oz. packages
6 / 12 oz. packages
(6) 12 oz. packages

I like the last one best, but none of them are perfect, and all could mean something else in the "math language".

I personally think this looks pretty good:

Six 12 oz. packages.

 

[kimmar067]

Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6, but buns come in packages of 8? THAT'S enough to make any kid hate math....

 

[Wubar]

Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6, but buns come in packages of 8? THAT'S enough to make any kid hate math....

This!

(Since apparently everything in print can be misconstrued as math, just confirming that the punctuation mark above is NOT referring to an exclamation, but the factorial).

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6, but buns come in packages of 8? THAT'S enough to make any kid hate math....

I've never seen standard hot dogs in packages of six. Kosher ones seem to be seven in a pack, and some knockwurst or "gourmet" hot dogs are four or six.

It was never a problem to find both hot dogs and buns in packages of 8 in my area. I think Oscar Mayer wieners and some el-cheapo trash hot dogs are still sold in packs of 10, but 8 doggies has always been the norm.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6, but buns come in packages of 8? THAT'S enough to make any kid hate math....

I buy hot dogs in either 8 or 16 count (though there are more sizes than that). But brats on the other hand are normally 5 or 6 (though are more sizes than that).

Bun packages are normally 8.

Normally I have more buns than needed when it comes to brats not hot dogs (though you can buy specialty buns for brats that I believe come in 6).

I'm going to guess that most common for hot dogs is 8 with buns 8.

 

[kimmar067]

I've never seen standard hot dogs in packages of six. Kosher ones seem to be seven in a pack, and some knockwurst or "gourmet" hot dogs are four or six.

It was never a problem to find both hot dogs and buns in packages of 8 in my area. I think Oscar Mayer wieners and some el-cheapo trash hot dogs are still sold in packs of 10, but 8 doggies has always been the norm.

....I always purchase SABRETT'S [they're GF] and they come 6 to a package...

 

[North of Mouse]

Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6, but buns come in packages of 8? THAT'S enough to make any kid hate math....

Don't think I've ever bought hot dogs in pkgs. of 6, always 8 to a pkg. On the other hand, sausages usually com in 5-6 per pkg. but we don't always use buns for them anyway.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I don't get why the confusion. It was perfectly easy to figure out the chocolate chips and Tide pods.