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You obviously have no idea what a CNC machinist/programmer does. They are responsible for reading the blueprints provided by engineering and programming the machine to the exact specifications stated therein. This is a skilled blue collar job where trig is a very useful to required thing to know.
CNC operators are not all programmers. Programmers need trig. Operators often do not, depending on their specific job. I'll agree that it is useful, but as you mention, it is not required.
Every police officer in my area has a laptop in their patrol car that calculates all of that for them. If it's a serious enough accident, there is a crime/accident scene investigative unit that comes out and takes over, patrol cops don't need algebra, they just need to perform data entry.
Is it algebra really that hard that so many kids just can't get it?
Or it is our educational system so broken, that they just can't teach kids math anymore?
Actually, looking back on algebra, it's actually quite doable and easy if you just make some effort in it. I think every student can do algebra if they have a good foundation in math in elementary school. At least for me, 5th grade was a crucial year and I was grateful for having a great teacher that made things clear in math.
It's amazing when things click and you actually understand the lessons. For me, I started to love math and didn't want to miss school because learning was so much more fun and interesting.
I think it's Calc 2 and up that can get quite tricky, at least for me it was.
Having taught (or attempted to teach) Algebra to 9th graders for 3 years my opinion is that the biggest problem is that the kids get frustrated when they don't pick up on it right away and then just completely shut down when they find out that they actually have to try.
I went to school during a time when calculators were an expensive luxury. Studet's needed to be able to perform math using their brain, pencil, and paper. When calculators became cheaper, they were still too bulky to sneak in class and were banned from classrooms. Many occupations use at least a basic form of algebra. Algebra I & II should be required in high school. More advanced math should be optional.
Some students just can't seem to wrap their brain around algebra. Don't know if it's a mental block through being intimidated by algebra or simply not able to comprehend. Classmate in 1987 eventually dropped out of school and algebra was one of his problem classes. He wasn't stupid. He was a farmer. He raised crops, performed soil chemical test, measured out the correct chemicals for soil treatment for individual crops, raised farm animals, fed them, studied veterinary medicine in his spare time to know the signs of sickness and how to treat the animals, and knew how to operate and repair large farming equipment. I dare anyone who thinks a high scoll drop out farmer is dumb to try raising food from the soil and other farming jobs.
Some students just can't seem to wrap their brain around algebra. Don't know if it's a mental block through being intimidated by algebra or simply not able to comprehend. Classmate in 1987 eventually dropped out of school and algebra was one of his problem classes. He wasn't stupid. He was a farmer. He raised crops, performed soil chemical test, measured out the correct chemicals for soil treatment for individual crops, raised farm animals, fed them, studied veterinary medicine in his spare time to know the signs of sickness and how to treat the animals, and knew how to operate and repair large farming equipment. I dare anyone who thinks a high scoll drop out farmer is dumb to try raising food from the soil and other farming jobs.
Exactly my point. He didn't need algebra and had he been offered the choice of an alternate math that was more relevant to him like consumer or business math, he most likely would have stayed in school and graduated.
Exactly my point. He didn't need algebra and had he been offered the choice of an alternate math that was more relevant to him like consumer or business math, he most likely would have stayed in school and graduated.
I'd agree if algebra was the only subject he was failing.
I'd agree if algebra was the only subject he was failing.
Had their been an agricultural vo-tech track he would have most likely finished school. That's the sad part. Schools will spend huge amounts of money on AP classes, offer 12 languages, 43 various electives, but they won't spend money on vo-tech tracks. Non-college track kids are no more than the trash waiting by the door to go to the dumpster. It's obscene.
Had their been an agricultural vo-tech track he would have most likely finished school. That's the sad part. Schools will spend huge amounts of money on AP classes, offer 12 languages, 43 various electives, but they won't spend money on vo-tech tracks. Non-college track kids are no more than the trash waiting by the door to go to the dumpster. It's obscene.
Perhaps it's different where you live, but we have absolutely beautiful vo-techs around here. It's the parents and kids that are hesitant about going. There's a huge stigma in our area about working with your hands. In eighth grade they take all the kids to the tech school and show them around. In the summer they have mini-sessions just for those kids to entice them into going.
Perhaps it's different where you live, but we have absolutely beautiful vo-techs around here. It's the parents and kids that are hesitant about going. There's a huge stigma in our area about working with your hands. In eighth grade they take all the kids to the tech school and show them around. In the summer they have mini-sessions just for those kids to entice them into going.
Many areas don't offer vo-tech. And you are 100% correct about the stigma. It's something that really needs to be changed. Look at some of the people on this thread who have implied that anyone who doesn't go to college is pretty much worthless to society. Parents need to allow their children to follow their own path in life, even if it's not a path the parents would have chosen for themselves, as long as it leads to an honest living. I'd rather my child was happy and productive than miserable and forced into a career path he doesn't want to pursue.
My mom's family had a great number of machinists. What these guys did and knew was amazing, they had to know how to design complicated parts, the angles, geometry and other applied math, along with knowing how their machines worked and the composition of the materials they dealt with. But those skills have been taken away, and the process far more regimented. That was the appeal of CNC, which was, to be able to replace men with much cheaper, and less vocal, machines. Point being, in a de-industrialized nation, the basic skills, including applied algebra and geometry, have diminished to the point where only machines can do the job. Much of the knowledge required to become a skilled machinist was passed on, not in school, but on the job, by men who had to understand the subjects well enough to build things.
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