Archive for the ‘Math in Real Life’ Category

Every child dreams big. Kids want to be sculptures, veterinarians, zoo keepers, pilots, baseball players, dancers -- kids are only limited by their imaginations! As parents and teachers, our job is to give kids the tools they need to realize these dreams. Math learning is one of those tools, as shown by our list of 7 cool jobs that require math.

As I’ve said here before, I’m fascinated by how artists put math to work. Part of this interest stems from my own experience as the daughter of an engineer who majored in art; and part from hearing my son say something to the effect of “why do I need to take math – I’m going to be an artist/animator/cartoonist/you get the idea.”

Math skills can be hard to retain during summer vacation. Kids may spend hours reading books at the beach and doing crafts at camp, but when do they practice math? Kids who practice summer math will have an easier time transitioning...

Research shows avoiding the “summer slide” can have a profound effect on your child's learning development. You may already know that DreamBox Learning is a wonderful source for engaging math activities for kindergarten, first grade and second grade students.

My own son has a gift for art and is especially interested in animation. (And while his math test scores are high he’s never been especially motivated to focus on math.) The animated movies that younger kids love can be a good jumping off point for helping them understand the unlimited possibilities of learning math.

If you haven't heard, sponsors announced this year's theme for Math Awareness Month - it's Math and the Climate! Held every year in April, Mathematics Awareness Month was started to make others aware of how math affects our world.

There’s no question that a strong foundation in algebra is one key to raising academic standards, increasing the competitiveness of our future workforce and opening doors to broader career choices for students.

I never liked this game, not even as a kid. However, I recognize the positive benefits of playing games with my 3-year-old Elle, and I could never deprive her...

Every day now driving home and listening to the news, I try, like everyone else I imagine, to wrap my head around the kinds of numbers they’re throwing around. The scale of the numbers is incomprehensible. How meaningful is the difference between a billion and a trillion...

I recently came across two articles that really caught my eye.The first was in the Wall Street Journal and was a ranking of the best jobs in the US. Mathematician was ranked #1, with Actuary and Statistician holding #2 and #3 respectively.

While I put out bird seed in my backyard feeder like many of you, I also have helped keep hummingbirds alive through five Seattle winters, traveled to Antarctica and the Canadian tundra to take photographs of birds, and help care for shorebirds and seabirds at a local aquarium. The Christmas Bird Count is one of the big yearly bird events in North America. Counting birds in their winter territories establishes expected norms which helps private and public conservation groups develop appropriate species conservation plans.

If you have children, chances are good that they brought home a box of valentines this week…

Who says Valentine’s Day is only about Hallmark and sugar? Classrooms can find creative ways to expand this holiday into a great learning opportunity.

I’m increasingly conscious of the gap between the urgent calls for more effective math education in the U.S., and the seemingly low expectations some parents have for their own child to advance in math. It’s as if the pressing national need has nothing to do with us on a personal level. I hear parents talk about their child’s math performance, and say things like “I was never good in math either.” Or regarding newer ways of teaching math, I’ve heard “I don’t like the ‘new math’ because I wasn’t taught that way.”

I took my two young boys, ages 5 and 3, to the Seattle Children's Museum on Sunday and was quite impressed with their new exhibit "Go Figure!". Here, in one of our very own museums, is a great exhibit that has a dozen or more engaging ways for kids to think about math!