Math in Everyday Life

Description
One-on-One Activity, Group Activity | 15 minutes

Just having the right skills is not enough for students to be engaged, motivated, and performing well in math—they need to actually want to learn math. So in addition to teaching how to solve math problems, educators can encourage students to see the connections between math learning and their everyday lives. A simple and effective way to do this is to invite students to write personal reflections about math so that they can see the joy, importance, and usefulness of math learning. Click here to download this page as a PDF. This reflection activity can:

Help motivate students in their math learning
Help students make specific and lasting connections between math and their everyday lives

Instructions

1. In just a couple of sentences, ask students to write down how math could help them achieve their dreams.

Have students consider their personal and professional goals, for example the kind of job they want or the things they want to study in the future. Then have them write how math can be useful in achieving these goals.

Example: My goal is to find a job that helps people every day, like a doctor or a firefighter. I will be making decisions that can help people and even save people’s lives, like decide which medicine to give or when to run in and rescue people. I will need to make right decisions very quickly. Math can help me make right decisions, like I can calculate in my head quick and make the right decisions.

2. Ask students to write a letter explaining the value of math.

Have students write a short letter to a family member or close friend that briefly summarizes what they learned about math this week. Have them include specific examples and share why they believe it is useful or relevant to their lives.

Example: Dear Grandma, today I learned about unit conversion in school. We learned about teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups, which made me think of you because you showed them to me the last time I helped with family dinner. We did a lot of practice in class, like 2.5 tablespoons is 7.5 teaspoons, because it takes three teaspoons to get one tablespoon. The math problems reminded me of being with you in the kitchen, and I think they'll help me be better at making measurements. Next time we're together, I will show you unit conversion then. If your recipe needs half a cup of something, I will give you 8 tablespoons!

3. Ask students to respond to what others say about the usefulness of math in their everyday lives.

It can be easier for students, especially younger students, to react to the words of others instead of reflecting from scratch. Have students read through a collection of quotes and then ask them to write down responses to the ones they most resonate with. Here's an example:

“To me, I am not super into math, but math is still important for what I really want to do. You need math skills to be able to talk about many things, like understanding climate change, or why some people are more likely to get sick. So sometimes I feel like I don’t use math, not every day, but then when I think about it I actually use math a lot. You also need math to work with computers, which could be really cool and helpful if you know how to use them.” —Joann, public health student

Response: I like what Joann shared, because I am also not super into math, but I can see how math also comes up in things that I find interesting, like social studies. Like she said, math helps me talk about things, and help me think about things. I want to know how many math classes she took and what kinds.

Tips and Tricks

Online Adaptation. Instead of writing letters, students can write emails to friends or family members. If you're videoconferencing, you can share quotes with the whole class and then have students write their responses in the chat function.

Engaging Families. Invite a parent or guardian of a student to share how they use math in their everyday lives. In the following class session, invite students to share with one another what they learned.

Going Deeper. Inspiring students with math learning is most effective when you demonstrate math learning in your own life and the lives of others. For more, explore Role Modeling.

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