When locals’ and aliens’ mixed attitude vis-à-vis otters and their apparently manageable growing population on the “fine” city of Singapore provides a fertile ground for math educators to pose a number of brain-unfriendly questions to challenge exam-smart symbol-minded students.
Two otter math questions from a Singapore math problem solving book are:
1. At a recent otter attack at a church’s fish pond, five koi fish were swallowed up, while the remaining partially eaten fish were left with one or two eyes. From the 17 koi fish in the pond, the verger found only 16 eyes. How many koi fish lost only one eye?
2. On average, what percentage of fish in a pond get eaten by an otter family every time they terrorize a condominium located in some posh area of Singapore?
1. At a recent otter attack at a church’s fish pond, five koi fish were swallowed up, while the remaining partially eaten fish were left with one or two eyes. From the 17 koi fish in the pond, the verger found only 16 eyes. How many koi fish lost only one eye?
2. On average, what percentage of fish in a pond get eaten by an otter family every time they terrorize a condominium located in some posh area of Singapore?
by MathPlus December 11, 2021
The equivalent of a bus driver in the sky, who earns a much higher salary because of the apparently higher risk of their passengers not reaching their destination safely.
by MathPlus January 17, 2019
A problem-solving heuristic or strategy that is not a product of imported approaches or procedures—for example, a deductive proof in geometry is unmistakably Greek in origin.
The bar model method, which is a mix of strategies from China, Russia, and the US, can’t be labeled “organic math”—ironically, this commonly known “Singapore model method” is anything but native math from Singapore.
by MathPlus December 03, 2018
When an unvaccinated tourist planning to stay a night or two at Romania’s Bran Castle, the home of Count Dracula, has a choice: Receive two jabs at once in the neck on arrival, or wait for at least two weeks after receiving the second jab.
Dozens of tourists wishing to make a trip to Dracula’s Castle during this pandemic are in a dilemma: ✈️ 🇷🇴 🏰 🧛 ♂️ = 2💉 🕰.
by MathPlus May 16, 2021
The unspoken slogan by employers to legally add a clause in their new hires’ contracts to have them vaccinated before they start work, and to expect existing staff to be inoculated if they want to keep their job.
Guesstimate how many people worldwide would challenge or sue their employers for implementing the "No Jab, No Job” policy, who argue that it is discriminatory to force any staff to be immunized.
by MathPlus February 19, 2021
When South Africa is the birthplace of at least two Covid-19 mutants—the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) and the Beta variant (B.1.351)—where gangs have often filled in the spaces the state has not filled, such as distributing soap, masks, food, and drugs, thus exposing the failure of the resources-rich nation to meet people’s basic needs.
What are the odds that presently WHO-approved vaccines are quasi-defenseless against the infectious and transmissible Covid-🇿🇦 variants?
by MathPlus November 27, 2021
A killer that has garnered undue attention vis-à-vis other global killers like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), diabetes, and cancers, as a large number of the middle-class and some wealthy families and celebrities in the developed world have disproportionately been affected.
Unlike other main causes of death that mostly affect the poor and the marginalized in the developing countries every year, COVID-19 appears to be a great leveler in indiscriminately choosing its victims—for example, it is blind to people’s race, religion, or social status.
by MathPlus June 27, 2021