Here’s a quick one: In this week’s Intermediate Algebra class at San Quentin, our lesson was on radical functions, and we had to solve this word problem. I read aloud:

If the length of the skid marks is d feet, the speed s of the car in miles per hour before the brakes were applied can be found using s= √(24d).

If the skid marks of a car involved in an accident measured 190 feet, find the speed of the car before the brakes were applied. Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

As soon as I said skid mark, there was some restrained laughter. Then when I said it was 190 feet, one guy shouts “that’s gotta be some big ass underwear! I’ve never had a skid mark that long!”

Another guy shouts across the room “I have!” The whole class erupts in laughter as several guys pile onto the joke and I’m dying laughing.

Transitioning a good portion of my teaching time away from middle school kids and into an adult classroom at San Quentin, I was very curious to compare and contrast. Obviously there are some stark differences, but I am glad to see that a good poop joke never gets old.