Comment by ineedasername

I'm going through a bit of this sort of thing with my oldest child right now. Sometimes there are issues with the common core specifications themselves, but holy heck are there problems with their implementation. For example, common core math standards MP2 & MP3 relate to reasoning and logical arguments.

Typically these areas are targeted to 5th graders to start with. My son is in 3rd grade, yet out of the blue with no prior introduction, questions arise in a module on fractions about this. Suddenly my son is given a question like this:

"Jane has 6 apples but 4 of them are rotten. Jane's friend Bob says that less than half of the apples can be eaten. DERIVE A CONJECTURE about this situation and provide evidence to support your argument."

This is absolutely ridiculous. First, the concept of a conjecture has never previously been introduced. Second, even if it had been, as used here it is completely inappropriate. It has been pulled from the MP3 standard but clearly used by someone creating questions that had no idea of how to actually apply the concept or perhaps know themselves what a proper mathematical conjecture actually is, much less that its use here is basically a complete non-sequitur. The word probably should not appear in an elementary school core specification at all, as every instance I can find of it is used inappropriately as the generic layman's version of the word rather than its mathematical use, when math is the frickin' subject at hand /end rant