Sing to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad."

I’ve been working on a problem   
Seems like all the day! 
Now, I fin’lly got a number,   
So I’ll put my book away...

But then I hear my teacher calling:
“Don’t rise up so soon! 
You need to check your work for errors -- 
No one is immune!

Dinah won’t you check, Dinah won’t you check, 
Dinah won’t you check your work? 
Dinah won’t you check, Dinah won’t you check, 
Dinah won’t you check your work?

‘Cause somethin’ went wrong for NASA  
near Mars in ‘99: 
A pricey spacecraft blew up    
from units not aligned!

So check your units now 
and the answer’s magnitude. 
Does good reasoning 
back what you conclude?”

Many thanks to Larry Lesser for permission to display these lyrics.
© 2001 Lawrence Mark Lesser. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. 
(Originally published on p.11 of the Winter 2002 issue of REFLECTIONS, the journal of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics.)

About Professor Lesser

     The “Weird Al Yankovic of mathematics education”, UTEP Professor Larry Lesser motivates teachers and students by merging two of his great loves – mathematics and song.  He’s published a score of math lyrics in national journals as well as the first juried comprehensive articles on using songs in math class, and has given national workshops ranging from NCTM (a ballroom audience of 700) to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  
     As the “Mathemusician”, Lesser brings his acoustic guitar to classrooms and keynotes, facilitating explorations and performing raps and musical parodies, creatively adapting popular lyrics towards math topics such as infinity, pi, problem solving, graphing functions, as well as even more worldly applications such as whether to play the lottery!  Visit his math-and-music page of examples and resources at:  http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/Mathemusician.html

Math Song Lyrics

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