>at first glance like it belongs as a basic homework problem
The culprit is that (most) education involves churning through problems and their often formulaic solutions, merely with increasing levels of difficult. You get used to simple problems having simple solutions by exposure. It would have been nice to understand as a child that there's so much simple stuff not figured out, in many areas.
But presenting open-ended problems in children textbooks sounds like a quick way to confuse and anger parents.
The culprit is that (most) education involves churning through problems and their often formulaic solutions, merely with increasing levels of difficult. You get used to simple problems having simple solutions by exposure. It would have been nice to understand as a child that there's so much simple stuff not figured out, in many areas.
But presenting open-ended problems in children textbooks sounds like a quick way to confuse and anger parents.