Monday, March 09, 2015

That doesn't seem right...



It's Math Monday! 
for the Math Monday link up!


"That doesn't seem right..."

How I love those four little words!

Saturday was our appointment with the tax lady. When she was all done and told us that our return would be xxxx, my heart sank a little -- the amount was almost a third of what we have been getting back in recent years. But I didn't say anything.

Lucky for me, our brilliant tax lady said, "That doesn't seem right..." and poked around until she found a default setting that doesn't fit for us. She worked and worked to get the online form to reflect our particular reality, and when she was done, she said, "That's better! Your return is XXXX! That's more like it!"

Indeed! Now we can get new siding for the house AND have some left over!

This story is brought to you by Math in the Real World. You can bet I'm going to tell this story to my students today, and the moral will be to ALWAYS think about whether your answer makes sense!





3 comments:

  1. Such a great example for checking our work and using math in our lives. Thanks for sharing this week!

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  2. Hurray! Math in the real world sometimes involves professionals, too! For those who love math, it is a career possibility. :-)

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  3. I love the question students always ask when it comes to math: "When are we ever going to use this?" It is so important for students to see how math can be used. One book I found that might help students see how math is used is "Frankie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace" by Eric Wight.

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