Math in Your World

How can we make math feel relevant and useful?

A family out on a walk

How far did you walk? How long did it take? How fast did you go?

How much of each ingredient do you need ? What size pot should you use?

Can we finish the movie before bedtime? How long will a movie marathon last?

How many petals? Is this flower symmetrical? How many flowers can a bee pollinate?

You'll notice math everywhere once you start to look for it!

We call seeing math in the word around you mathematizing. When you mathematize, you notice things you can count or measure and you ask questions that can be answered using mathematics.

Mathematizing is important because it helps students see math as useful and relevant, and it's how most of us use math in our everyday lives and at work.

We hope you'll get curious together and make mathematizing a habit!

Mathematizing Examples

Mr. Perkiss Mathematizes!

Watch this video to see how Mr. Perkiss and his kids saw math while playing in their backyard!

Example 3-act task in home (chalk).mp4

A Book about Mathematizing

Listen to this silly story by Jon Scieszka about a girl who can't stop seeing math around her. The Math Curse might inspire you to mathematize and solve more problems of your own!

Ms. Mandy's Baking Problem

Ms. Mandy was making oatmeal cookies and didn't want to get lots of different measuring cups dirty!

She used math to figure out how many 1/4 cup scoops of oatmeal she needed to make her grandma's recipe.

Ms. Mandy's Math Cookies

More ideas for Mathematizing at Home

If you or your child notices a math situation, talk about it!

Mathematizing can be as simple as sharing what you notice and wonder.

Or try solving some of your own mathematical questions!

Math in the real world can be messy.

Unlike most word problems in school, you may need to count, measure, research information, and estimate or make assumptions before you can start solving!

This process is called Mathematical Modeling in the standards.

What might mathematizing look like at RIZ Schools?

A 4th-Grade Example

4/3 3act task example.mp4

A 1st-Grade Example

Primary 3-Act Task Example.mp4

The original task was created by Graham Fletcher https://gfletchy.com/

We Solve 3- Act Tasks!

As you can see in the video examples above, a 3-Act Task is a math routine with three parts that we use to practice problem solving in a real-world context:

Act 1

We use a picture or a video to launch the context. Students notice and wonder, generating mathematical observations and questions.

Act 2

We choose one question to solve, students think about what information they need to solve it, and once teachers give them the additional information, they get to work!

Act 3

We share and compare solutions.