This controversial drawback was shared on Fb by a mum or dad with a headache each time he taught his baby to check. The query requested: “A buffalo has 4 legs. What number of legs does 6 buffalo have?”. The coed wrote the reply “6×4 = 24 legs” however then the trainer crossed out and deducted factors.
The mom didn’t perceive the rationale why, so she requested the group: “Are you able to clarify this lesson for me. The trainer who explains this drawback has to place 4×6 to be appropriate, however 6×4 continues to be improper”. Beneath, there are numerous netizens who’ve the identical query because the mom as a result of these two calculations have the identical outcome.
Nonetheless, if any mum or dad works laborious to check with their baby, they may know that the trainer needs the kid to grasp the true nature of multiplication.
6×4 is the sum of 4 instances the quantity 6
4×6 is the sum of 6 instances the quantity 4
Right here, the issue requires calculating the variety of legs of 6 buffaloes, so we should take (variety of buffalo legs) x (variety of buffaloes), that’s, we should take 4×6.
Instructing kids to multiply is totally different from educating kids to do a math drawback from multiplication. Within the early phases, kids haven’t but realized commutative operations, so that they should be clear when putting which one is first and which one is later in multiplication.
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