New Blood Entry — Lost in Calculation
Duolingo / 2023
The journey of every math student culminates in one question: “When are we going to use this in the real world?”
This is because our math problems are getting lost in convoluted scenarios that only exist in textbooks.
For example:
“If Barney is running at 7.6 km/h and children are running away from him at 2.1 km/h, how long will it take for him to slam into them from 562 meters away?” - Illinois Math and Science Academy
“A man ate 100 bananas in 5 days. If he ate 6 more each day than the previous day, how many bananas did he eat on the first day?” - Jackson Stark High School
To remind people to go back to the basics, Duolingo Math brought these unrealistic problems to life.