What Students See: Skulls and Crossbones
A nested fraction equation looks like skulls to students; mathematicians see '[something] − 3 = 8' and deal with the inside later.
![A nested fraction equation looks like skulls to students; mathematicians see '[something] − 3 = 8' and deal with the inside later. (panel 1 of 3)](../img/2016-06-22-what-students-see-when-they-look-at-algebra/7.jpg)
![A nested fraction equation looks like skulls to students; mathematicians see '[something] − 3 = 8' and deal with the inside later. (panel 2 of 3)](../img/2016-06-22-what-students-see-when-they-look-at-algebra/8.jpg)
![A nested fraction equation looks like skulls to students; mathematicians see '[something] − 3 = 8' and deal with the inside later. (panel 3 of 3)](../img/2016-06-22-what-students-see-when-they-look-at-algebra/9.jpg)
Use this cartoon
Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.
Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2016-06-22-what-students-see-when-they-look-at-algebra--what-students-see-skulls-and-crossbones/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)Transcript
((7x − 1)/2 + 4)/7 − 3 = 8 / Students: the same equation written entirely in skulls and crossbones / Mathematicians: "[Something] − 3 = 8. eh, I'll worry about this bit later"