[krissi772]

It has been a long time since I took Trig, Algebra, Geometry, or Calculus. Always loved math, but I teach Kindergarten now so basically 2+2 is the hardest problem I've had to solve in awhile.
My 13 year old daughter is in 8th grade. Her Algebra teacher recently changed seating arrangements. My daughter wants to sit with her last math partner, and, since he is a great influence & incredibly helpful to her in math, I am supporting her with this. Problem is, her Algebra teacher will only move her back beside her old partner if she can come up with a mathematical proof or equation proving why she should be allowed to sit beside him. The teacher said the more creative the better. A search of "fun math proofs" or "math proofs about life" essentially only yields the old "Women are the root of all evil" proof, and I am having a hard time getting inspired with that.
Any ideas? I thought about adding the letters of their names & figuring out some way to put them in an equation or figuring out a way to show the two should be adjacent with a shape or an angle. I just can't get inspired...
Help would be greatly appreciated.

[teacherjenn4]

Have you looked at Khan Academy? It's helpful for many parents who are unsure how to explain math to their children. https://www.khanacademy.org/

[jcaron2]

She could keep it relatively simple and write an equation showing that her ability to learn algebra is inversely proportional to the distance she sits from her old partner. For example,

S = 100/x,

where S is the score she promises to get on her next math test, and x is the distance from her partner. She could even graph this equation and explain that it's a hyperbola. She could then plot points at 1, 2, 3, etc. desks away and show that her next test score will be a 100, 50, 33, etc. If she sits infinitely far away from him, she'll get a zero. Or if that's a little too dramatic, maybe something like S = 70 + 30/x. Then her scores would be 100, 85, 80, etc. with an asymptote of 70 if she sits an infinite number of desks away.

Assuming she's successful at convincing her teacher, if she doesn't get a 100 on her next test, she could say that her promise, just like the equation, was hyperbolic. :)

[joypulv]

I agree with jcaron2, and carrying it further, her future as president of the country is directly (rather than inversely) proportional to her proximity to her old partner (by way of SATs, college, grad school, and a successful career).
You could even emphasis the alliteration of 3 P's.