A troubling math problem that led to a “heated conversation” among one fifth-grader’s family has sparked similar debate on social media.
Math differs from other subjects in that the answers students give are either definitively correct or correct. However, as a recent post shared to Reddit by a user posting under the handle u/Awecalibur shows, that is not always the case.
The author of the post, who asked to be referred to by the initials JT, came across the puzzling question while looking over his niece’s newly graded math homework. JT told Newsweek: “I decided to share it to Reddit because it initially sparked a heated conversation among my family.” The question asked: “How many rectangular faces does a hexagonal pyramid have?”
JT’s niece, who is in the fifth grade, had written 0 as her answer. However, her teacher told her this was incorrect and that the answer was 6. “The problem is confusing because it asks how many rectangular faces are present on a hexagonal pyramid,” JT said. “The question must have meant to ask how many triangular faces are present on a hexagonal pyramid, and the teacher just wasn’t in the mindset to challenge the textbook that day.”
Reddit/u/Awecalibur
Eager to get a second opinion or two, JT posted the problem to Reddit. “My niece got this question wrong in math class today, with the ‘correct’ answer being 6,” he wrote alongside the post. “I’m trying to explain to her that she was in fact correct and that the teacher was incorrect, but I don’t know what the question was trying to ask. The teacher explained that the base of the pyramid could be broken down into 6 rectangles, which wasn’t satisfying to myself or my niece.”
Though it may have only amounted to one question on the homework sheet, JT said he felt it was important for his niece to pull her teacher up on what was either a confusing or fundamentally flawed question.
“We really wanted my niece to feel confident to try to seek understanding when dealing with authority figures like teachers,” JT said. “I believe that curiosity and seeking knowledge is something that everyone should strive for. So I posted it on Reddit so that she could see how people would support her not only in her correctness, but also in her curiosity to understand why.”
The responses supported her claim. “That’s odd. With that logic, you could break those rectangles down into smaller ones, and on and on,” one user wrote.
“This teacher, like many before, only knows what the book says. If the book is wrong they’d never know,” another posted.
A third user echoed JT’s comments about the need to establish in children the confidence to challenge what they believe is incorrect. “This my little girl, is what it’s like to have a job with an assertive boss. You know you are right, but rather than acknowledge that when you point it out to them, they get defensive and make up more stuff,” they said. “If you can learn to ignore that, you will get less frustrations later in life. If you cannot, you have instead learned that it is more important for you to find a place with a good boss, than some company you think you want to work for, but that have a boss like this.”
JT’s niece ended up sticking to her guns, and it paid off. “The teacher admitted that my niece was 100 percent correct,” JT said. “She said that it was a typo in the book and the question meant to ask how many triangular faces are included in a hexagonal pyramid.
“It has amounted to a valuable and satisfying learning experience. I’m glad that the teacher rectified this,” JT added. “My niece is feeling good that she caught a mistake and was validated in her explanation.”
Math seems to be a subject that American kids struggle with. In 2022, U.S. students were found to be below average in math, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This is an initiative for measuring the levels of reading, math and science knowledge among 15-year-olds from member countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).