A very special E.T. has arrived. When it opens its mouth, two other E.T.s will jump out of it. This carries on and we will get from 1 to 2 to 4 to 8 and so on. In fact the numbers are in a geometric progression. Hence a mathematics teacher can introduce the geometric progression this way in case he finds that students are getting bored with just numbers and calculation. He can further test the students by assuming that each E.T. can only produce 2 other E.T.s, and only do so after one day, how many E.T.s are there after one week. Without using the general formula, the total will be 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 127.Some may think--why so troublesome? Why can't it be just numbers and mathematical operations? Why bother about the stupid E.T.? Well, it is not easy to answer these questions. Perhaps I can only say it has something to do with becoming an interesting teacher or a boring one.
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