It may not seem possible, but math is a part of daily lives, tasks and recreation. Whether we’re cleaning the house, making dinner, listening to music, grocery shopping or doing many other routine actives, math is right there along with us!
Don’t believe it? Here are 8 ways math is a part of what you do:
Cooking
Cooking and baking both require math skills, that is, if you want your food to taste good. Ingredients must be measured and if you’re reducing or adding volume to recipes, multiplication and division are involved. Even turning the stove or oven on require math in order to get to the right temperature. So many tasty meals and treats are possible thanks to math!
Practicing Art
Artists and mathematicians are generally believed to have opposite strengths, however, artists must use math in nearly any discipline they practice. Take sculptors, for instance. Sculptures work on an axis and often use coordinates to build their pieces. They must understand rotational symmetryin order to construct. Math is also needed for more recreational crafters, like those who scrapbook. Measuring, counting and geometry are all things needed to complete designs with intention.
Traveling
Leaving your house for awhile? Math comes along on the ride! This is true with all travel, but especially with road trips. Estimating fuel, planning stops, paying for tolls, counting exit numbers and knowing how far food stops all require calculating miles per hour and distance traveled. Some of these things are easier with the help of Google Maps and other various GPS systems, but estimation is still required for smart travel.
FAMILY PRACTICE IDEA: Plan a pretend road trip with your family with these pointers:
1. Start by getting an old school foldout road map.
2. Label the starting point as A. Have them pinpoint nearby crossroads, intersections, or an easily identifiable point such as a bridge, building, or highway entrance.
3. Label the destination as B.
4. Determine the best route depending on terrain, speed limit and so on.
Time Management
Time may seem silly because it’s something we don’t necessarily choose to participate in and a necessary evil, but time can be a huge asset. Managing time involves telling time, time zones and the value of how to spend time, which is something that is precious. The world these days runs at a high speed and there are plenty of distractions that are easy to fall into. Understanding the value of time takes awareness and also math sensibility.
Banking & Finances
This one is pretty obvious, but it makes the list because of its importance. Everything revolving around managing money has to do with math, whether it’s physical money that you have in your hand or balancing checking and saving accounts or managing any sort of money market account. Without understanding math, we would all be bankrupt within hours!
Shopping
Shopping is almost unavoidable in life. Luckily, you get to practice math while doing it. Shopping requires a broad range of math knowledge from multiplication to estimation and percentages.
Every time you weigh produce, compare prices and percentage discounts and estimate the final price to stay within a budget, you're using math during your shopping experience.
FAMILY PRACTICE IDEA: Using coupons, discounts and bulk item pricing, have each family member estimate the total cost of all groceries prior to checkout.
Gardening
Let math help you get your hands dirty! Planting in all seasons requires math. If you’re starting from seed, measuring and keeping track of time are important for successful sprouts. Once you’ve planting in the ground or in pots, measuring and counting are necessary to know where to dig holes and where to plant. Measurement also comes in when tending to plants once they’re planted, like watering, for instance.
Decorating
Have you ever tried to buy or move furniture without estimating or measuring space in a room? Decorating everything from a room to a cupcake involves math, especially in effort to not waste. Painting, planning for new furniture, measuring a proper amount of glue or icing all involve measurement and calculation in order to not buy the wrong item or buy too much of another. Decorating most anything comes out better when math is used.
Math is everywhere, operating in real life ways all around us. So, the next time you hear someone say "when am I ever going to use this math” remember the above examples and perhaps give them good tips to help them stay focused and help them see that we use math all the time. And, remember, if a student you know is struggling with math, have them come visit our math tutorial center at Mathnasium of Parker.
