# The New Math **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333 "2002-07-11T00:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333/1 "2002-07-11T00:37:20Z")
When I went to high school (Brooklyn Tech, if it means anything) our math sequence went like this: Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, each for 2 terms and each followed by a Regents. My son is a freshman at my old alma mater. His sequence is: Sequential Math A (3 terms followed by a Regents) Sequential Math B (2 terms followed by a Regents) and Pre-Calculus (1 term no Regents). Why did it change and what did it change into? Does anyone know how these new classes translate into what I did? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333/2 "2002-07-11T02:01:21Z")
It’s hard to believe that they’re significantly different. Math’s too hierarchical to really change the order in which things are learned. That said, your best bet is probably to ask someone at the school. They would have a much better idea of the curriculum than someone who’s not involved. ---
**Author:** ![nonchalance\_ouichalance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@nonchalance\_ouichalance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonchalance_ouichalance)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333/3 "2002-07-11T02:13:43Z")
The main excuse for the old order was that you needed algebra in order to take chemistry and trig in order to take physics. But why chemistry came before physics is anybody’s guess. Any mathemetician will know the skill are all independent, but simultaneously know that math lovers will intuit enough to get through the science classes without specific training. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333/4 "2002-07-11T03:31:11Z")
It’s taught in a different order, that’s for sure. Very early in the first semester my daughter (she’s also a freshman in a different school) was banging her head trying to figure out the hypotenuse with sines and cosines. I remember that as trig. (She figured it out. A lot faster than I remember figuring it out) ---
**Author:** ![Pythagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@Pythagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagoras)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333/5 "2002-07-11T04:17:36Z")
I went to a math-science magnet school and now go to a technical school where I have lots of math. Here’s my observation Algebra builds up to Calculus in HS with not much logical explanation for why things work. Then you go to college and start from scratch math wise (aside from calc and other applied stuff) Once you get into your first proof course onwards you work your way from proving 2+2=4 to learning about algebraic systems and proving the fundamental thm of calculus. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-math/118333/6 "2002-07-11T14:28:16Z")
Just bumping this to see if any daytime folks know how educators have changed teaching math. My understanding of math hierarchy makes it seem impossible to do the trig problems my daughter was doing before learning how to do quadratic equations, which is algebra to me. But it could be because that was the way I learned it. Any high school math teachers out there?