Friday, February 09, 2007
The obvious is not always the right answer...
Posted on Thu, Feb. 08, 2007
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A SWEET DISCOVERY AT DISCOVERY PLACE
Math prodigy corrects Discovery Place
Exhibit pulled after boy shows it doesn't add up
PETER SMOLOWITZ
psmolowitz@charlotteobserver.com
Part of the new exhibit on candy has been removed from Discovery Place. And you can thank Parker Garrison.
When the 8-year-old math whiz at Charlotte Christian visited the "Jelly Belly Presents Candy Unwrapped" display, he accepted the challenge: Use equations to calculate how many jelly beans were in a pyramid and other containers.
His mother, Donna, didn't want to wait while he tried all the formulas. So she copied the numbers he needed, and he took the problems home.
That's when he realized something was wrong.
For years, Parker has amazed his parents and teachers with his math skills. When he was 3, his parents could tell him which coins they had in their pocket, and he'd add the total in his head.
And when he was in first grade, he competed against third-graders in the math olympics. He would have finished second -- except he wasn't old enough to officially participate.
But that day in the family's south Charlotte home, his mom still wasn't sure what to think when Parker told her there was an error in the pyramid formula.
You made a mistake, she remembers saying.
No, I did it three times, he replied. And I know why it doesn't work out.
The equation mistakenly called for dividing the correct answer in half. Parker's father, Jim, called Discovery Place.
After the museum figured out who should handle the call, Dean Briere, a shocked vice president, decided to investigate.
An hour later, Briere called back.
The exhibit had traveled to eight cities in four years.
"And no one found this mistake -- I just couldn't believe it," Briere said.
The equations were developed at the Ontario Science Center, a museum similar to Discovery Place. The Canada museum will likely mail a new display for the pyramid to Charlotte by the end of the month, Briere said.
Some of Parker's math ability is genetic. His mother used to work in nuclear medicine. His father has a background in industrial engineering and now works as a loan officer.
But Dale Koch, who has worked with Parker at Charlotte Christian and started teaching in 1962, said he has never seen anyone like the boy.
"It's a gift that, for some reason, God gave him," Koch said.
Parker agrees. He says some day he'd like to be a meteorologist or work with reptiles and amphibians.
But his parents say they're careful not to push him at the expense of his childhood. Like many third-graders, he likes SpongeBob SquarePants and Jimmy Neutron.
He still takes an advanced math course. But this year, he also asked to take classes again with students his age.
Find the Error
Eight-year-old Parker Garrison discovered an error in an equation at Discovery Place that asked visitors to calculate how many jelly beans are in a pyramid-shaped container. Here's what he discovered:
ORIGINAL PROBLEM
A jelly bean has a volume of about 1 cubic cm.This container is half a pyramid.
Its base measures 46 cm by 23 cm and its height is 72 cm.
Here's the formula to find the volume: 1/3 x base area x height.
Now divide your answer by 2 since this is half a pyramid.
Now multiply your answer by 0.9 to account for spaces between the jelly beans.
The answer should be 22,853.
THE ERROR
The base measurements given were already for half the pyramid, so there was no need to divide the answer by 2.
Posted on Thu, Feb. 08, 2007
email this
print this
reprint or license this
A SWEET DISCOVERY AT DISCOVERY PLACE
Math prodigy corrects Discovery Place
Exhibit pulled after boy shows it doesn't add up
PETER SMOLOWITZ
psmolowitz@charlotteobserver.com
Part of the new exhibit on candy has been removed from Discovery Place. And you can thank Parker Garrison.
When the 8-year-old math whiz at Charlotte Christian visited the "Jelly Belly Presents Candy Unwrapped" display, he accepted the challenge: Use equations to calculate how many jelly beans were in a pyramid and other containers.
His mother, Donna, didn't want to wait while he tried all the formulas. So she copied the numbers he needed, and he took the problems home.
That's when he realized something was wrong.
For years, Parker has amazed his parents and teachers with his math skills. When he was 3, his parents could tell him which coins they had in their pocket, and he'd add the total in his head.
And when he was in first grade, he competed against third-graders in the math olympics. He would have finished second -- except he wasn't old enough to officially participate.
But that day in the family's south Charlotte home, his mom still wasn't sure what to think when Parker told her there was an error in the pyramid formula.
You made a mistake, she remembers saying.
No, I did it three times, he replied. And I know why it doesn't work out.
The equation mistakenly called for dividing the correct answer in half. Parker's father, Jim, called Discovery Place.
After the museum figured out who should handle the call, Dean Briere, a shocked vice president, decided to investigate.
An hour later, Briere called back.
The exhibit had traveled to eight cities in four years.
"And no one found this mistake -- I just couldn't believe it," Briere said.
The equations were developed at the Ontario Science Center, a museum similar to Discovery Place. The Canada museum will likely mail a new display for the pyramid to Charlotte by the end of the month, Briere said.
Some of Parker's math ability is genetic. His mother used to work in nuclear medicine. His father has a background in industrial engineering and now works as a loan officer.
But Dale Koch, who has worked with Parker at Charlotte Christian and started teaching in 1962, said he has never seen anyone like the boy.
"It's a gift that, for some reason, God gave him," Koch said.
Parker agrees. He says some day he'd like to be a meteorologist or work with reptiles and amphibians.
But his parents say they're careful not to push him at the expense of his childhood. Like many third-graders, he likes SpongeBob SquarePants and Jimmy Neutron.
He still takes an advanced math course. But this year, he also asked to take classes again with students his age.
Find the Error
Eight-year-old Parker Garrison discovered an error in an equation at Discovery Place that asked visitors to calculate how many jelly beans are in a pyramid-shaped container. Here's what he discovered:
ORIGINAL PROBLEM
A jelly bean has a volume of about 1 cubic cm.This container is half a pyramid.
Its base measures 46 cm by 23 cm and its height is 72 cm.
Here's the formula to find the volume: 1/3 x base area x height.
Now divide your answer by 2 since this is half a pyramid.
Now multiply your answer by 0.9 to account for spaces between the jelly beans.
The answer should be 22,853.
THE ERROR
The base measurements given were already for half the pyramid, so there was no need to divide the answer by 2.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
2/6/07
"You can pay people to teach, But you can't pay them to care."
-Marva Collins
"You can pay people to teach, But you can't pay them to care."
-Marva Collins
