Modelling change

So I've been been thinking about math and mathematical models quite a bit lately, partly because they've been showing up in many places this semester.

When I was 8, this was my idea of a model...except that back then I don't think the textbooks were in colour. We drew little bar models all the time. Everyone's models were always straighter and neater than mine, and some kids would bring their colour pencils and colour them in for no good reason at all. Drawing models was the way to solve every math problem and it was awesome until your older neighbour/friend/cousin taught you algebra. Then they became the most ridiculous, tedious things in existence because your teacher wouldn't let you stop using them.

Apparently now they're all the rage among homeschooling parents in the US (and possibly in Utah too?). I guess my messy little primary school self didn't appreciate them enough because I hated having to draw so many straight lines.


Now (10+ years later) models look like this, and there are lots of them everywhere :)
I realised I have actually not had a math class in something like 3.5 years, even though I've used it extensively in some of my classes. I might take an applied math class or two before I graduate...

Squiddy

This is an old drawing that I made back in freshman year (in intro geology class, I believe). I think my squid drawing abilities are far better than my platypus drawing abilities.


The squid-with-big-gaping-hole-in-mantle is something that I notice everywhere, but when I re-discovered my old cartoon I decided to see how prevalent it actually is. So I ran a quick search for "squid" on Google Images, filtered by "clipart" to see. I excluded photographs and things that were clearly unrelated (e.g. things with the word 'squid' but no actual squid, squid-style multiplugs, people dressed as squids, etc) and put things that were labeled 'squid' but clearly not (e.g. octopuses, jellyfish, cthulhu) under the "Not a squid" category. This survey covers ~20 pages of Google Image results.