Math Problems Throughout the years:

Teaching Math in 1950:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1960:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80
What is his profit?

Teaching Math in 1970:
A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money.
The cardinality of set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one
dollar.  Make 100 dots representing the elements of the set "M".
The set "C", the cost of production, contains 20 fewer points
than set "M."  Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M" and
answer the following question: 
What is the cardinality of the set "P" for profits?

Teaching Math in 1980:
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100.
Her cost of production is $80 and her profit is $20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math in 1990:
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. 
What do you think of this way of making a living ?  Topic for
class participation after answering the question:  How did the
forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the
trees? There are no wrong answers. 

Teaching Math in 1996:
By laying off 40% of its loggers, a company improves its stock
price from $80 to $100. Assume that capital gains are no longer
taxed, because this encourages investment. How much capital gain
per share does the CEO make by exercising his stock options at
$80? 

Teaching Math in 1997:
A company out-sources all of its loggers. The firm saves on
benefits, and when demand for its product is down, the logging
work force can easily be cut back. The average logger employed
by the company earned $50,000, had three weeks vacation, a nice
retirement plan and medical insurance. The contracted logger
charges $50 an hour. 
Was outsourcing a good move?

Teaching Math in 1998:
A laid-off logger with four kids at home and a ridiculous
alimony from his first failed marriage comes into the
logging-company corporate offices and goes postal, mowing down
16 executives and a couple of secretaries, and gets lucky when
he nails a politician on the premises collecting his kickback.
Was outsourcing the loggers a good move for the company? 

Teaching Math in 1999:
A laid-off logger serving time in Folsom for blowing away
several people is being trained as a COBOL programmer in order
to work on Y2K projects. What is the probability that the
automatic cell doors will open on their own as of 00:01,
01/01/00?