Find Number of Fourth Graders

Math 004 sample test questions for anyone seeking NYS certification as a high school math teacher. This is just one of several exams required for NYS high school teacher certification.



Let me see.

(1/4)(35,638) = population under age 35.
After reading the problem about 3 times, I then concluded that (1/4)(35,638)(1/3) leads to the number of fourth graders in that town.

You say?

 

(1/4)(35,638)(1/3)=2969.8333 -> leads to the number of K-12 students

K-12 has total of 13 grades ( kindergarten (K) and the 1st through the 12th grade (1-12))

if the number of students in each grade is same, then 2969.8333/13=228.4487 which lies between

200<228.4487<300
so, 4th grade will have between 200 and 300 students

 

I honestly thought that (1/4)(35,638) led to a population less than 35 years of age. This is all very funny. Here I am thinking that after completing an entire precalculus textbook that I somehow earned my "membership " in a circle of gifted math people. Ha! A joke in poor taste. I am a man who completed precalculus with you (and others before you) who may not even be smarter than a fifth grader. Ha!