Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Connecting Math to the Real World : A Great Website

Every now and then, kids will ask "Why do I have to know this? When will I ever use it?"

Even though we are tempted to say "You'll need it to pass the test and ultimately graduate!" there is a better answer. My daughter-in-law, who is a college math teacher,sent me a website that I have found very intersesting and useful for answering such questions. It is:

http://www.xpmath.com/careers/topics.php

At this website, you can click on math concepts such as fractions, algebra and geometry concepts, and many more to get a list of occupations that need and use that concept. Or click on the career, and along with a brief summary and salary level of the job, find out which math skills are used in that field. The possibilities for student research are numerous here!

If there is one message that I want kids to get from using this website, it is that math gives you career options. People who have mastered math concepts have a variety of fields open to them. And in our changing world, that is a good thing!

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