RP 1.5 Traditional Math: Additional Commentary on the Surf City Ratio
Notice for email subscribers. The last paragraph from the previous post was left off, though it appears on the website. It pertains to the homework to be assigned for that particular lesson.
The first time I used the Surf City Ratio in a lesson on ratios was during an interview for a teaching job in which I had to give a demonstration lesson. All the teachers on the panel were familiar with the song, so my first mention of the Surf City Ratio elicited some giggles.
I had misloaded a CD with the song into their computer, so when it came time to play the first line of the song, nothing happened. I apologized, but the teachers were into it and said “Oh we can help out.” They then all sung the first line: “Two girls for every boy.”
I thought “I’ve got this job nailed!”
I went on and said “How many of you would go to school where the Surf City ratio prevailed? Two girls for every boy.” All the male teachers raised their hands. “How many of you would go to school where the ratio was two boys for every girl?” All the female teacher raised their hand.
“And so this shows that ratios are useful in making decisions. Suddenly math is important!”
They loved it. There was no stopping me now. “Actually I get just the opposite reaction from seventh graders. Your reaction is closer to how eighth graders react.”
Although I had a great house for my demo lesson, I unfortunately did not get a job offer.
I will confess at this point that my only teaching experience was student teaching, and some sub assignments. In other words, I was making up all the results. I have tried it since, however, and seventh graders typically go the opposite way the teachers voted as I surmised. I haven’t tried it with eighth graders. I maintain, however, that no matter how the class poll turns out, math in general and ratios in particular are very useful for making decisions.
I will leave it to the readers to experiment further. Let me know how it turns out.