During my time as a middle school math educator, you would not believe the number of times I was asked, “Why do I have to learn this? How is it going to help me in life?” Not that I could turn every math lesson into a life lesson, but these questions reminded me that math is all around us and that the more I can engage students in real-life situations, the more they will enjoy in the learning process and remember the concepts. A few popular math projects that my students always enjoyed were budgeting for a party, designing a dream home, and making March Madness predictions.
I am not the only teacher who thinks it is important to make math lessons relevant to students’ lives. Here is a collection of videos and lesson plans that will make any learner excited about math!
Videos
1. This video features a math teacher named Dan Meyer, who is on a doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. He takes pictures and videos of real-life scenarios that invite students to ask questions that are irresistible to answer. The math is embedded into the related discourse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRMVjHjYB6w
2. The Teaching Channel highlights short videos, like the one below with a pre-calculus drone project. The videos capture problem-based math projects that encourage student discourse and long-term retention.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/real-world-math-examples
3. PBS has a video series to introduce key Common Core math concepts in 4th-8th grade. Each video focuses on constructing a conceptual understanding of a topic in order for students to better understand related math problems.
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/i-3-math/
4. Ted.com has a collection of videos displaying math in real life. One is about Michael Jordan’s legendary hang time!
http://ed.ted.com/series/?series=math-in-real-life
Lessons
1. Mathalicious is a website offering real-world lessons for the secondary level. The lessons not only relate to everyday situations but also invite students to utilize critical thinking skills.
http://www.mathalicious.com/lessons
2. Education World has a series of relevant lessons titled ‘Get Real: Math in Everyday Life’. It features new, relevant lessons each week, such as creating a lemonade stand and calculating a car payment.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr148.shtml
3. NASA created a collection of brief lessons called Practical Uses of Math and Science (PUMAS). This collection demonstrates many interesting ways math and science are part of everyday life.
4. This website provides a wide variety of lessons with practical and applied math. The lessons are created by teachers and many of them list contact information for collaboration purposes.