Teaching today and something stuck me. In fact, about 3 things strike me every day I teach, but I tend to forget them. This one I still remember because it is most recent.

Kid: Can you help us on this question?

Me: Sure! <reads it over. It is a word problem involving velocity, time it took, and asks for how long the distance was>. Okay, so, you use this equation. V=D/T. Do you guys know your algebra yet?

Kid: This is science.

Me: ….uh…..okay but, do you know your algebra? What math are you taking right now?

Kid: But this is science. It’s from science class. We’re learning about velocity.

Me: ….right….but…this is math. You have to know the math to do this problem. We’re using algebra to find the missing variable, D, the distance the train traveled.

Kid: ….oooh……           …

Yeah…I’m not sure why the kid thought that you didn’t need to know math for a science question.