Ah, math homework. The bane of many students and parents around the world. In a recent case of perplexing math homework, an Irish father posted a picture of their child's homework, marked incorrect, and asked the internet to weigh in.
The question was a devilishly simple fill-in-the-blank: "A semi-circle has ___ corners."
The student answered 2, and was marked wrong. As neither student nor parent could understand why the answer was incorrect, Mark Tighe, the parent, posted the question to the internet.
It set off an argument that lasted through the week, stumping many and inciting strong defense of child and teacher alike.
Many people, including members of geometry communities online, agreed with the kid.
However, some folks argued the opposite and sided with the teacher.
However, even ChatGPT agreed with the kid!
Some just contributed definitions of corners that they found and left it up to readers to infer.
Others went in more mathematically improbably directions.
Some commented on the book itself, which seems to plague many well-meaning parents in Ireland.
Teachers also weighed in, mostly surprised that this was graded.
Folks also took this moment to remember educational grudges they are still holding, years later.
Really, though, many wondered: what is the point of this lesson?
The incorrect mark remained, but perhaps the parent will keep posting other head-scratchers for full grown adults to chew on.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram