The Unknown Perils of Fruit Punch
I have a soon-to-be 4th grader in my summer school class who was working on a math problem. The problem featured a bar graph with amounts of beverages served by the school cafeteria. He was answering the question, "If the cafeteria can only serve 2 beverages, which 2 should they serve?"
The student had only filled in one blank with Milk, which was the highest amount. Fruit punch was number 2 on the chart.
So I asked the student, "Why didn't you finish this problem? You need to put the 2nd highest amount on this line."
He replied, "Mr. B, I can get behind them serving milk because it has the most sold. But, fruit punch makes you go to the bathroom."
I said, "Well, the question is asking for the top 2 drinks and fruit punch is the 2nd highest."
His response, "OK, but Mr. B. fruit punch make you have to go pee!!!"
At that point, realizing he had thoughtfully considered his answer, I relented and said he could put whatever beverage he wanted for the second spot.
