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economist sunsuntribune education saturday sept 3 2005 for some its a breeze but for many math can inspire paralysing fear writes caroline greek -j- problems with math first of a twopart series discussing math problems and solutions by caroline grech staff writer statistics trigonometry algebra and cal culus for some its a breeze but for many math can inspire paralysing fear while students are not necessarily failing in large numbers many are struggling with math the problems have not gone unnoticed and students in grades 1 to 10 will be working with a new curriculum this month those in grades 11 and 12 will follow with a new curriculum next fall but will a new curriculum address the problems grade 9 and 10 math classes continue to be among the most popular among students repeating high school courses over the sum mer according to jim orfanakos coordinat ing principal of continuing education for the york region district school board this year 1388 of 26710 high school math students failed and took reinforcement class es during the summer while that isnt a high proportion of stu dents the numbers dont account for those who are just scraping by in provincewide standard tests grade 9 applied math students in particular strug gled seventy per cent or 30235 grade 9 stu dents taking applied math in 200102 were not meeting the provincial standard in the education quality assessment office tests the numbers didnt get any better in 2002- 2003 when 72 per cent were not meeting the standard in the 20032004 school year numbers improved but 62 per cent of applied students were still below the standard the problems students have with math cant be harrowed down to one specific rea son everyone from teachers to administra tors to parents has an idea for kathryn stewart an intermediatesenior mathematical literacy consultantits a matter of changing the way society views math its socially acceptable to not be good at math ms stewart said its embarrassing to have difficulty reading but people will freely admit they cant figure out a restaurant bill taking away the scare factor of math will go a long way in having students excel ms stewart said the following is a list of problems york region math students would encounter during their studies can you solve these problems q 1 grade 1 clown wig- 6 cents glasses- 8 cents beanie cap- 9 cents headband- 3 cents boomerang5 cents squirt ring- 2 cents kim went to the silly stuff sale she took 20 cents she wanted to buy a clown wig boomerang and headband what can kim buy with the money she has left q 2 grade 5 these questions are to be figured using mental math q a theatre has 16 rows of seats each row has 24 seats how many seats are there in the theatre q 3 grade 7 q paco ate 25 per cent of a 16slice pizza and placed the rest in the fridge santos ate 25 per cent of the leftovers a how many pieces were left b what percent of the original pizza remained answers tjai si ezzid am jo luao jad 9gq 6 e sguu ymbs aaiin jo spueqpbaq oaaj guejbwooq u0d e anq 01 yp sjuso 9 wen mm 9us t illustrationsjoerd witteveen by grade 3 we want them loving it she said for gary reid a former high school instructor who now teaches math for tech nology at seneca college there are many contributing factors but key among them is yrng events management on l3pim3 l 18882 17288 october 21 22 23 2005 wwwmarkhamhomeshowcom markham fairgrounds 10801 mccowan rd markham the lack of communication or continuity between elementary high school and post- secondary schools fundamentally theres so many gaps in kids understanding and learning and you can still get a passing grade and not fully understand the concepts mr reid explained its so bad mr reid said he has to treat his college students as if they were in high school or they wont do their assignments while unable to put his finger on a single root cause he believes some of the basics such as multiplication tables are being sacri ficed in the name of making school fun the basics are not being taught and because it is not there through high school we go through gyrations to get students to understand at college mr reid said mr reid also pointed to the shortened high school curriculum kids would be better off to learn the sub ject gradually and right now were trying to cram everything in he added unionville high school teacher louis lim agreed the old curriculum gave too much to learn in too little time while many may disagree on the approach teachers should take with math they agree change is needed buildings kids pets outdoor living