Students need to decide, ‘All right, well, does the height matter? Does the side of it matter? Does the color of the valve matter? What matters here?’ — such an underrepresented question in math curriculum.

Meyer is arguing that a central mathematical habit of mind—deciding what information is relevant and what can be ignored—is often missing from school math, where problems typically pre-select variables and present only “clean” data. By asking whether features like height, side, or even the color of a valve matter, he highlights the modeling step: translating a messy real situation into a mathematical one by making assumptions, choosing quantities, and justifying relevance. The quote critiques curricula that emphasize executing procedures over framing questions, and it aligns with Meyer’s broader advocacy for tasks that begin with ambiguity and require students to define the problem before solving it.