Jokes in the Classroom

I love jokes. I love comic strips, web comics, puns, jokes, and just general wit. When I was younger, I came across the book Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar, which fashions itself to teach philosophy through jokes.

Although I have studied philosophy in many different mediums, this was one of the most enjoyable ways of engaging with the material. So last year, I incorporated jokes into my Algebra class. My students loved it, and their groans were especially delightful.

My favorite math joke is a little long so here is the shorter version (prior info: Descartes laid down the properties of Analytic Geometry)

“There once was a magnificent mathematical horse. You could ask it Algebra questions, which it answered with no difficulty, Calculus was a breeze, it could even prove theorems in non-Euclidean geometry, but when you tried to ask it Analytic Geometry questions, it would rear back on its hind legs, kick ferociously, neigh loudly, and make violent head motions in resistance.

The moral of this story is that you can’t put Descartes before the horse.”

There are so many different math jokes and they are all relevant to different topics. I’m going to list the ones I use in my classroom here, inexhaustively:

At the beginning of the year for Geometry, when I am introducing the concept of postulates, and write out Euclid’s First Postulate (Between any two points there exists a line), I use this joke:

In order to have all of your ducks in a row, simply have two ducks.

It is so simple, and the kids aren’t often familiar with one-off jokes like these, and they’re more amused than they thought they would be.

When I’m introducing perpendicular lines, I use this joke:

What should you do if you are cold and do not have a sweater?

Go stand in a corner, because it’s always 90°!

Another groan-inducer, but they go and tell all of their friends this one.

Or this one, with the parallel’s:

What do you call a pair of l’s?

Parallel!

This one helps them remember what parallel means – a pair of l’s are actually parallel.

My favorite to introduce circles:

Why should you never argue with a circle?

Because it’s pointless!

This allows me to go into the older questions of what a circle is – it can be seen as an infinitely numbered polygon, as Archimedes of Syracuse attempted to prove, but that current mathematics says that a circle is not a polygon. This also ties into the Flatlands: A Romance of Many Dimensions (movie), where the social hierarchy is dependent on the number of sides each polygon has, and President Circle pretends to be a true circle but is really simply a high n-gon.

I love this one-off for it’s silliness:

3.14% of sailors are pi-rates

I put this one at the end of a final exam, and knew students were finished when they gave a small groan or giggle:

Teacher: “What is seven Q plus three Q?”

Student: “Ten Q”

Teacher: “You’re Welcome.”

Or this one-liner:

As a Geometry teacher, I only make snow angles: 30°, 60°, 90°, or if I’m feeling extra good, 120°

I draw this one on the board to add to their dictionaries for ‘complementary angles’

I like this one for Trapezoids, called a “trapezoidberg”

I think I’ll keep updating this one as time goes on!