The Story of (Human) Calculators by Margaret Kenda and Phyllis S. Williams

1. The Story of (Human) Calculatorsby Margaret Kenda and Phyllis S. Williams

2. 1Which sentence explains why human calculators sometimes • repeated the questions they were asked? • A. They were unable to hear the audience members. • B. They needed extra time to figure out the answer. • C. They wanted to make sure everyone heard the question. IA18: Make connections (cause and effect) within a text (Reading GLE 2.3.1)

3. 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. IC11: Demonstrate understanding of major ideas/main ideas and supporting details (Reading GLE 2.1.3)

5. Text-based details may include, but are not limited to: • Answer math questions almost immediately / Answer almost immediately • Repeat 40-digit numbers / backwards • Calculate seconds in a year • Calculate ounces in a ton • Give value of pi to the 1,000th place • Multiply 7-digit numbers by 8-digit numbers • Astounding memories • Knew shortcuts / tricks / Gained time by repeating the question/ Pretended not to hear • Carl Gauss used his math wizardry to do important work and help others • Jedediah Buxton was able to answer any question (even though he couldn’t read or write) / answer ridiculous questions • Buxton could tell the number of hair widths in a field. • Counted 14,445 words / Counted 5,202 steps taken • Worked as “calculators” / “computers” / Did accounts and scientific calculating all day

6. 2 • 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. Some people have special math skills because in the test it said that “People could find out the number of seconds in a year or the number of ounces in a ton or a value of pi to the 1,000th place.” Also, in the text it said that “Someone would call out a 40-digit number, and the human calulator would call it right back, only backwards.” • C. “People could find out the number of seconds in a year.” • D. …or the number of ounces in a ton. • E. …or a value of pi to the 1000th place. • B. Also…someone would call out a 40-digit number, and the human calculator would call it right back. • B. …only backwards.

7. 2 • 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. Two details from the selection are 1. Jedediah Buxten go to a play and count how many steps a actor took. 2. And people could mutiply a 7 digit number and an 8 digit number almost imeadeatly. • L. …and count how many steps a actor took. • F. …could mutiply a 7 digit number and an 8 digit number. • A. …almost imeadeatly.

8. 1 • 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. They work like a calculators. They work like a computers. • M. They work like a calculators. • M. They work like a computers

9. 1 • 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. One person who was a lightning calculator was a farmer named Jedediah Buxton. He could not write or read but was very smart at math. One time his friends took him to a play and at the end, Buxton told his friend that the acter said 14,445 words and 5,202 steps • L. …told his friend that the acter said 14,445 words. • L. …and 5,202 steps.

10. 0 • 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. Well it is about 2 geniuses and it said thay were human calculators. No acceptable text-based details are provided that support the idea that some people have special math skills.

11. 0 • 2 The selection shows that some people have special math skills. Include two details from the selection that support this idea. Two details are, that some people have math skills because, they worked with calculators. They also had math skills because, they worked with computers. No acceptable text-based details are provided that support the idea that some people have special math skills.

12. 3Based on information in the selection, what would most likely • happen if Jedediah Buxton went to another play? • A. He would ask the actors a math question. • B. He would see Carl Friedrich Gauss on stage. • C. He would count something while watching the play. IC13: Make or confirm inferences or predictions based on the text (Reading GLE 2.1.5)

13. 4What is one important idea the reader can learn from this selection? • A. Some humans’ brains work as quickly as a calculator. • B. People who are math geniuses have been highly educated. • C. Farmers use their knowledge to help others solve their problems. IA20: Extend information beyond text—make generalizations beyond the text to a broader idea or concept (Reading GLEs 2.4.1, 2.4.5)

14. 5Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. IC12: Summarize with evidence from the text (Reading GLE 2.1.7)

16. Text-based important ideas may include, but are not limited to: • Was a farmer / lived in England • Could not read or write / could not write numbers on paper • Could answer any questions about numbers • Could tell the number of hair widths in a large field. • No one wanted to check Jedediah Buxton’s figures. • Friends of the farmer took him to a play. • Busy counting (14,445 words) (5,202 steps) / He had no idea about the plot of the play / He had not noticed that he was hearing a great actor • People who were good with numbers worked as calculators and computers / They did accounts and scientific calculating all day / most human calculators have been replaced by machines • Summarizing Statements (SS) may include, but are not limited to: • they were good at math problems • he was really smart at math • knew everything about numbers • answered a lot of math questions • He was great at math • could answer a math question • could calculate any problem

17. 2 • 5 Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. Two centuries ago, in England, a farmer named Jedediah Buxton didn‛t know how to read or write and didn‛t know how to write numbers on paper either. Something that amaze you is that he told people what the width is of hair. People took him to plays and he told them how many steps and words the actors said and He didn‛t even know what the play was about. • A. …in England. • A. …a farmer named Jedediah Buxton. • B. …didn’t know how to read or write. • B. …didn’t know how to write numbers on paper. • F. People took him to plays. • G. …he told them how many steps. • G. …[he] told them how many…words the actors said. • G. He didn’t even know what the play was about.

18. 2 • 5Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. Jedediah Buxton was a human caculator who knew everything about numbers and when his friends took him to a play, afterwerds, he told them that the actors had spoken 14,445 words and had taken 5,202 steps. • SS. Jedediah Buxton was a human calculator who knew everything about numbers. • F. …his friends took him to a play. • G. …he told them that the actors had spoken 14,445 words. • G. …and had taken 5,202 steps.

19. 1 • 5Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. Butson had no idea about the plot of the play, and he had not noticed that he was hearing a great actor. Not many years ago, people who were good with numbers worked as “caculators” and “computers. Also most of them had replaced by machines. • G. Buxton had no idea about the plot of the play. • G. …he had not noticed that he was hearing a great actor. • H. …people who were good with numbers worked as “calculators” and “computers.” • H. …most of them had replaced by machines.

20. 1 • 5Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. Boxton could tell an answer fast, friends would give a rare treat, and he new how many times a acter said somthing. • G. …he new how many times a acter said something.

21. 0 • 5Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. Jedediah Buxton could maybe subtract 16/100 – 12/20 and could come out with an answer. He could do 2+2 maybe in a milisecond. I‛m thinking he could count how many words I said in my life. The response does not accurately summarize the selection because it does not provide any acceptable ideas from the selection.

22. 0 • 5Write a summary of the section Other Lightning Calculators in • History. Include three important ideas from the section in your • summary. calculators is like shortcuts to math. Many people use calculators to sovle math problems. People use calculator mostly anaywere. The response does not accurately summarize the selection because it does not provide any acceptable ideas from the selection.