Title: Do you think this is a reasonable math prbolem for a 4th grader? Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:May 24, 2016 Author:me Post Date:2016-05-24 16:48:35 by no gnu taxes Keywords:None Views:1796 Comments:30
John saves $1 on day 1, $3 on day 2, $6 dollars on day 3, 10 dollars on day 4 and so on.
Given this pattern, how long will it take John to save $165?
This seems like at the very least a 7th grade problem.
So, it would take 18 days to save $165 (or $166, or $169, all the way up to $171).
This is a pretty hard problem. You either "see" the pattern outright (which I did) or you spend endless time trying to find some sort of progression.
Worse, the end-point doesn't land on $165, so you have to have the broader sense to recognize that $165 is within the set of solutions for Day 18.
If the number were set, instead at $16,304, one would have to derive a formula. There is a formula for this sort of repeating sequence it resembles an interest problem), so once again one will either remember that formula, or one will have to derive it. It would take me a long time to do that.