Math Careers
Danica McKellar is known for playing Winnie Cooper on the hit TV show The Wonder Years. She talks about how she found her passion for mathematics while in college after scoring at the top of her calculus class. Includes a video (3:39), teaching tips, and support materials for use with students.
Suggested classroom use: Have students complete this student guide.
Meet science journalist Simon Singh, who has produced award-winning science shows and written books about math and science. One of his books is about the mathematics featured in the TV show The Simpsons. Includes a video (4:12), teaching tips, and support materials for use with students.
Suggested classroom use: Have students complete this student guide.
Read this "Science News Explores" article (readability score: 7.6) to find out how sports teams use math and data science to win games and analyze player performance.
Note: Due to the length of this article, you may want to the entire class to read the introduction and then assign a group to read each section of the article and report back to the class.
Suggested classroom use: Have students answer these classroom questions before, during, and after reading. (Note: Teachers must provide an email address to register for free access to the questions.)
Learn more about being a mathematician in this article (readability score 6.1) from "Science News Explores". Meet mathematician Edray Goins and find out what inspired him to pursue mathematics, as well as his biggest successes and challenges.
Suggested classroom use: Have students complete one of these graphic organizers after reading the article.
Suggested Classroom Use: Show one of the videos below as a warm-up or when there are only a few minutes of class time left. Utilize one of the reflection forms below with students.
Use this Career Connections Video Student Reflection Guide to engage your students!
Utilize page 3 of the Career Exploration Sheet from bizworld.org. Printable and ready to go!
Use this LINK reflection resource to help students focus.
Use this graphic organizer from education.com. Ask students to research any information that isn't provided in the video.
Teachers need to create a free account to access the organizer.
Meet Molly, a finance specialist who uses math to help big projects spend their money wisely. Watch this video (3:00) to learn more.
Meet a data scientist who works for Facebook and find out more about her career in this short video (1:53).
Find out more about what it takes to be a financial advisor by watching this video (1:29).
Watch this video (2:55) to learn about careers that use math, including how math is used to create playlists at Pandora. (Teacher note: The speaker refers to math as the "gateway drug" for science, so please watch it before showing it to your students to determine whether it's appropriate.)
In this video (6:08), see how Ravens offensive lineman, John Urschel, uses his math skills and applies them to forces in football.
Note: This video is also linked in Math Careers.
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