When Math Matters: Discover the Power of Mathematics in the Real World

A failure to find mathematics challenging, interesting, or relevant is a significant factor when children lose interest in mathematics. When Math Matters contains high interest math investigations that will help students see the importance of learning and understanding mathematics. Students will need insight, intuition, creative problem solving and collaboration to find solutions for each investigation. Over 50 real world investigations are included that show students the importance of understanding mathematics. Sample investigations include: 1) How the failure to use mathematics led to serious injuries during a tug-of- war contest at a middle school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 2) The serious consequences some whalers faced in the 19th century because they did not understand fractions 3) How statistics are manipulated to make the true seem false and the false seem true 4) Math mistakes in the media and their consequences 5) The danger of a misplaced decimal point – it can be deadly!