h a l f b a k e r yYou think: Aha! We go: ha, ha.
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random
news, help, about, links, report a problem
browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
register,
|
|
|
On the corner of a busy city street you'll find the street math table. Step up and flip through the large binders filled with laminated pages on various math topics. The helpful street math person will (for a modest fee) teach you a little math. Just pick a cool sounding topic from the binder. A blackboard
stands ready, listen to the other lessons or select you own. It's like a juke-box math lesson! Who keeps asking for Graph Theory Topics? Could we learn some Calc? The fun never ends with street math.
When unemployed the street math person would yell "MAAAATH GET YOUR MAAAAAATH!" to the people passing by.
NPR: George Nobl in New York
http://www.npr.org/...ures/2002/apr/math/ "By giving math lessons in Times Square -- and tossing candy bars to people who get the right answers -- Nobl hopes to persuade people to give math another chance." [jutta, Apr 26 2007]
Street Math?
http://muppet.wikia...iki/Count_von_Count [Jinbish, Apr 27 2007]
[link]
|
|
I'd go for an educational kiosk but
nonetheless, anything for furthing the
education of people is worthy of a [plus]. |
|
|
Suddenly the homeless beggars would get a lot more popular, as people flock to their side of the street to avoid the math guy. |
|
|
I pictured something similar to public chessboards in parks, where friendly competition or wagering could take place over utilizing the Riemann Hypothesis, Goldbach's conjecture, Hilbert's sixteenth problem, etc. |
|
|
Yeah! And those no-good government thiefs better not try to overcharge on math licenses. Stand back and watch the integers fly. |
|
|
I'll also take one of [twitch]'s /furthing/ educations since I'm broke. |
|
|
one times two equals two, fool.
two times two equals four, want some more?
three times two equals six, getcha kicks!
four times two equals eight, get it straight!
|
|
|
Great idea. Finally, kids would have somewhere to go if their parents can't help them do their math homework! In contrast, the 2002 coverage of George Nobl in New York (link) irks me a little. If you have to bribe people with candy bars to do it, how much fun can it possibly be? And street-smart people would probably know that the price of a pizza-pie has very little to do with its
area. |
|
|
I was under the impression that buying and selling drugs will give the kids a pretty good education in math on the street corner. But I'm guessing that's not quite what you had in mind? |
|
|
It passed through my mind, but I didn't go there because it would have relied on narrow stereotypes about both street kids and math, something that the commentary so far eschewed. |
|
|
For a moment I thought this would be an "I'd rather be doing math" distraction. People who find themselves interminably stuck in line at the postal service, at a sports arena on the night before finals, in a prison lobby on visiting day, or countless other public venues that feature forced loitering would have said "large binders filled with laminated pages on various math topics" and benefit thereby. |
|
|
Upon seeing [futurebird] as the author I thought: "Hey! Haven't seen her in a while.". I then looked at the profile to see if there were any new ideas. The first one I checked was "WWF anarchy..". It is dated exactly 5 years ago. <twilight zone theme> |
|
|
Half-baked...only because I've seen this idea materialized, but I think it should be baked all over the palce.
I met "street math guy" in a very busy section of Manhattan one day about a year ago. He was an older gentleman, quite charming and funny I remember... posing basic physics and mathematical questions to those passers-by who were "brave" enough to stop and chat. If they got the answer right, he'd give them a tootsie roll. If wrong, he'd write out the solution on a marker board he had set up. Its was pretty funy experience to be honest. I hung around for a bit because he has such an interesting/philosophical way of explaining the solutions. Of course, the tourists were just snapping away photos. |
|
| |