Mr. Ho's Mathematics

Mr. Ho has a simple and clear description of what high school Mathematics is: 

"Mathematics is about the study of numbers and their patterns.  We, as Math practitioners or learners, are often interested in finding, analyzing, and making sense of patterns of numbers.  Once we recognize the patterns, we always want to create a mathematical model (e.g., graphs, tables of values, and/or equations) to represent these patterns so that we can predict the future.  

In high school, we call these patterns of numbers relations (or functions if each x-value is related to at most one y-value).  The types of relations (or functions) that students at LPCI will learn in their Math classes from grade 9 to grade 12 are linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic, and piecewise relations (or functions).  These relations (or functions) can be seen and used in real life.  

Examples of such real-world applications are finding:

• the number of $5 and $20 bills in your wallet with a given total amount, 

• the distance/speed/time of an airplane flying with and against the wind, 

• the volumes of two chemical solutions of different concentrations to be mixed to produce another chemical solution of the desired concentration, 

• the trajectory of a projectile, 

• the revenue/expense/profit of a business, 

• the probability of some events occurring, 

• the periodic motion of a Ferris wheel, 

• the population/bacteria growth, 

• radioactive decays (or half-life) of some isotopes, 

• the appreciation and depreciation of an asset, 

• the fish population in a lake before and after some environmental disasters, and many more."