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My Fellow Americans

Is simpler always better?

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My Fellow Americans

Is simpler always better?

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Is simpler always better? The rapper Jay-Z once described how he “dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars.” Indeed, a recent analysis found that the average top-rated pop song is written at a third-grade reading level.

In this lesson, students evaluate expressions with variables to compare the reading levels of famous speeches in American history and debate the virtues of complexity vs. popularity.

REAL WORLD TAKEAWAYS

  • Longer sentences and bigger words make a piece of writing or speech more difficult to understand.
  • Simplifying a message will allow more people to understand more easily…
  • …But when you simplify a complex idea enough, some essential parts of the message may get lost.

MATH OBJECTIVES

  • Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables

Appropriate most times as students are developing conceptual understanding.
Grade 6
Equations & Expressions
Grade 6
Equations & Expressions
Content Standards 6.NS.2 Fluently divide multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm. 6.NS.3 Fluently add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi-digit decimals using the standard algorithm for each operation. 6.EE.2 Write, read, and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers. (a) Write expressions that record operations with numbers and with letters standing for numbers. For example, express the calculation "Subtract y from 5" as 5 &mdash; y. (b) Identify parts of an expression using mathematical terms (sum, term, product, factor, quotient, coefficient); view one or more parts of an expression as a single entity. For example, describe the expression 2 (8 + 7) as a product of two factors; view (8 + 7) as both a single entity and a sum of two terms. (c) Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, in the conventional order when there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations). For example, us the formulas V = s<sup>3</sup> and A = 6s<sup>2</sup> to find the volume and surface area of a cube with sides of length s = 1/2.
Mathematical Practices MP.1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively. MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. MP.7 Look for and make use of structure.

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