By: Sydney Brooks Why is math magical?
On Thursday, January 21, 3574, a young girl in seventh grade named Skylar was sitting in math class taking notes on this week's lesson, algebra and multiplication. Mrs. Lane, the math teacher, was writing on the smart board, 4+j+7=26, and called upon Skylar to answer the equation. Skylar looked up from her notes and on to the board where inside her head, instead, the numbers said 26-11=j, and j=15. Skylar looked up at the teacher, and as if in a trance, stated exactly what was in her mind on how to solve the problem. Mrs. Lane smiled and said to her, "This is the result of actually listening and paying attention versus sitting in the back of the class and dilly-dawdling." Mrs. Lane looked straight at the poor kids in the back, who now being caught, sat back in their chairs with red faces. "Well, it's a remarkable difference. Thank you Skylar for showing us your extraordinary listening skills." Mrs. Lane finished with a smirk. Skylar sat in her seat feeling proud, the teacher never said that to her before.
Mrs. Lane went back to her desk after given fifteen problems for her students to solve. She had been keeping a particular keen eye on Skylar just to see if anything 'weird' had shown up. Mrs. Lane looked over at her just in time to see her eyes sparkle as if she had the knowledge and instantly knew the answer to the problems assigned. Mrs. Lane picked up her voice recorder and whispered, "Subject one, a success, she is using her new found gift wisely and covertly, will update on further notice'.
Skylar went home that night feeling a little different, as she could feel something changing inside her brain. She finished up her homework and studied for the math test tomorrow. Skylar went over her notes and quizzed herself, and very tired from a long day, she fell asleep.
The next day, Skylar woke up quickly and got ready for the school day. When she got to school, she found that she had five minutes to study before class started. When she looked at the equation on the board, the numbers magically moved to show her the correct answer. Skylar was still a bit confused, but Mrs. Lane passed out the tests and answer sheets and told the kids to start. Skylar jumped into the first question and almost instantly, the words and numbers switched around to reveal the answer. She checked her work just to be sure, and to her joy, the answers matched and Skylar filled it in on the answer document. She went through the test looking at all the questions in the test before filling in the answers, checking her work, and feeling anxious, turning in her test. The bell rang, and all the students ran out to go to second period.
The tests were passed back the next day, and Skylar received hers and looked at the grade. It was marked 98%. Skylar went on through the end of the day with a big smile on her face, and back in the classroom, Mrs. Lane swished her fingers around in the air, made all the math magic disappear, and recorded a message.