Without math in the lives of students, some real life situations and problems become more difficult for

them to solve. Likewise, mathematics builds logic and pattern recognition in the brain. The structure of math helps with organizational and problem-solving skills. By learning basic math skills, students learn to look at an entire problem before attempting to solve it. They learn to state the problem, come up with possible equations or possible ways to solve it, move step by step to come to a conclusion, and lastly, evaluate the final answer. This is important for any person, whether they are an art or engineering major. For example, in order for an artist to sell a painting, this being his stated problem, he must come up with a way to do it. First he must eliminate the worst and the best paths to choose. These are the possible equations for him to use. Next, he must research the best possible way to market the painting and then experiment. For example, the artist may try selling one painting on the internet and another at the mall. In the end, the artist must evaluate which way is the best and continue the better one based on his logical reasoning. By using logic and problem-solving skills, the artist can increase his profit. Had he not chosen to use this way of determining where to sell all of his art and chose one place right away, lets say the worst way to sell his art, he would make no or very little money and would have wasted both his time and resources. The situation of an artist using math is for most people difficult to imagine, but it isnt always the numbers of math, but rather the skills acquired from practice through mathematical problems. In everyday life, the numbers come in to play just as much as the skills we use from solving math problems. With that in mind, people dont realize the obvious but unnoticed benefits of math. Everyday life revolves around math because money revolves around math. When shopping for a bargain, if people cant tell the true price difference between a two-dollar bag of 12-ounce potato chips and a three-dollar bag of 24-ounce potato chips, they will instantly go for the two-dollar bag. Thinking that it is cheaper, they dont realize that if they chose the 24-oz bag, they would pay less for the ounce! Without math, simple cooking would be a horrendous task. With the many fractions and measurements of all various foods and substances, what would a person without math do? Suppose they wanted to cook dinner for a party of 14, but the recipe was written for a meal for 12. They wouldnt want to just double the recipe; its only two more people. Without the knowledge of fractions and multiplication, this task would be near impossible. Math can be used for these daily tasks, but what if the son of a businessman wants a bike ramp? If the businessman doesnt know what the angle or height of a reasonable ramp is, his kid could be ramping his bike off a 70-degree incline! If he builds the ramp and then realizes that its too high, he could just go back and completely rebuild it with different dimensions and waste more time. Learning some basic trigonometry and geometry could have saved the man much more time,

but because of the difficulty of math many people would rather waste the time later in life building things twice than acquire the skills in high school or college. Math is important for simple daily situations such as balancing a checkbook or in the more difficult situation such as predicting an annual income due to inflation. Regardless of the need for math, it should be required that all students reach an appropriate level where basic problem-solving skills are taught and the use of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division become second nature. Learning math has the capability to stimulate the brain in ways unlike other courses required at the high school and college level and is necessary for the improvement of the quality of life in individuals. Americans have the opportunity to improve themselves in this way and it should be required that they attempt to do so. Works Cited: 1. www.google.com 2. www.suzannesutton.com/hatemath.htm

Yet another reason why mathematics should be studied is the fact that basically anything that happens in the world can be related to mathematics. Gaining an understanding of this concept can greatly affect how one perceives the world around them. New enlightenment may come about with this understanding. Math is also the only true universal part of human culture.

But teaching math is one problem in itself. We first need to establish a certain level of achievement before worrying about getting there. The most commonly heard phrase out of a high school or college math student has to be Ill never use this stuff. But the truth is, math influences what we do everyday, whether we know it or not. Everything from balancing a checkbook, making a choice of what item to buy at the store based on the better value, knowing if you have enough money for something, knowing how much something costs on discount, how to spend our time wisely, when to leave for work, and almost everything else we do all the way down to cooking. So how can we expect people to do these things well when that cannot add without their fingers and find it impossible to divide fractions? When it comes to math, the more you know the better off you are in life. Being self-reliant means you can live without relying on someone else to make the tough decisions, or even the small ones for you, saving you time, and hopefully saving you money as well. More importantly, the global economy is becoming more and more centered on science and technology. Moreover, in order to function in that economy, you must have a good understanding of mathematics, the root and basis of all science and technology. Sure, you can simply learn how to do

something and get by, but truly understanding how something works leads to much easier work and often times greater achievement and understanding in other areas. In the end, it is simple: we simply cannot allow the level of achievement in math to continue to falter. As the trend continues in both math and science, America becomes less and less able to compete in the global economy, and individuals become more and more apt to be out of work and a strain on the country. No matter if someone thinks they will use math or not, the simple truth is they will. We must show them that math is important to them and then force them to go on to a higher level of learning. As long as we, the taxpayers, can be held responsible for unemployment and underachievement, we should also be able to force a higher level of learning on people. We should not allow laziness and stupidity to be an excuse for someone receiving special benefits form the government at the cost of the hard working, intelligent, taxpaying individuals who foot the bill and are constantly penalized for their superiority. This is unacceptable. We must make people responsible for their actions and we cannot allow those actions to affect the wellbeing of others. o o www.math.uakron.edu/~norfolk/why223f03.pdf

place less emphasis on memorization and rote learning and see mathematical skills as useful tools and processes that can be applied to a variety of contexts. build a depth of knowledge as opposed to a breadth of knowledge. become empowered by developing an understanding of the connections in mathematics and build self-confidence and a positive disposition towards mathematics.

Learning math concepts can be difficult for a lot of people. Simply practicing repetitive math problems is often not enough, particularly when you are trying to understand the concepts behind the problems. The focus of this method is to think critically about each step in a math problem and how it fits with the situation as a whole.

Concepts can be considered to be general tools of inquiry. In conceptual teaching, specific content skills can be framed into concepts or, a particular activity, project, or problem can be framed conceptually. Employing the instructional shift from isolated content skills to broad concepts will help make mathematics a holistic subject. The following is a suggested list of mathematical concepts, or Big Ideas of mathematics. When mathematical content and contexts are brought back to these larger ideas, they provide a big picture and incorporate some flexibility in how learners mathematical understandings are built. It is important to set aside time to discuss with learners their understandings, give them the opportunity to reflect on their learning. This type of discourse is important in promoting communication around mathematics and in developing metacognitive skills.

By no means is the previous list comprehensive, yet it is already becoming lengthy. But if addition is learned through a concept, a big idea, the learner can build on pre-existing knowledge, reinforce a known or familiar concept, and not become overwhelmed. Rather than learning about decimals, then money, fractions, integers, algebra, and so on, each with its own seemingly disjointed set of rules and procedures, the concept of value is taught in the context of addition. No matter what is being taught, the principle that adding is combining or putting together like values is reinforced. Concepts should be re-taught in a variety of contexts with different content, in essence teaching less in more depth. A concern with teaching any mathematics course is the time it takes to cover the content. Employing a conceptual approach allows the instructor to become a facilitator or guide to coach learners in building on what they already know. No longer is the content list viewed as a series of tasks to be completed it can be viewed as the mathematical contexts to which addition is applied. This constructivist approach allows learners to: build on prior knowledge. Start with basics and then take the concepts and show how to apply them in a new branch of mathematics, for example, with probability, geometry, or measurement.

homeschooling math fact day? You will find a few simple ideas on how you can make the day really stand out to your child, and help them master those difficult math

facts. First you will want to come up with some fun math fact games. I have found that doing a bit of online research in advance will help you to find some online ideas on how you can help your child master their math facts. Next you will want to print out and hang up some math fact charts around the room. Start with the easy ones and work your way up through the list. Remember that the more fun that your child has the easier it will be for them to master the math facts. Once they have been able to master these facts they will have a much easier time getting through their math work. You can even use food to help student learn their math facts. Look for ways to incorporate math facts into your recipes. For example you can make some cupcakes and decorate them with different math facts. This is a fun way to get the math facts stuck into your child's mind so that they can master math. You will be surprised how just planning one math fact day a month can help your child to fully master the basics of math. Before you know it they will be breezing through their math work, with very little effort. This is especially the case if you find that your child is having difficulty in math. Even math fact flash cards are a good way for your child to memorize their facts. You can purchase flash cards, or you can take the time to create your own. If you plan on making your own, I have found it to be a good idea to have your child help you. By having them help create them, you will find that they will also be learning them. Keep in mind that writing helps facts to stick into a child's mind. Of course you don't want them to have to spend the entire day writing so be sure to mix it up a bit with the cooking project and a few online games as well.

money you will need to put aside per week to pay your utlities, rent/mortgage, auto loan, taxes, insurance, groceries, etc... 6) Buying products on-line and figuring the tax and shipping charges. 7) Figuring the downpayment on a house if you have to put 20% down. 8) Doubling or cutting a recipe in half and figuring the measurents. 9) Figuring the square footage of your lawn if you were to spread fertilizer according to the recoommended amount. 10) Buying curtains to fit your windows.

11) Buying furniture to fit in your small living room or buying a refrigerator to fit in the space provided. 12) Buying a cover for your couch.

13) If you chipped in with 6 people to buy a gift for someone, you need to know how much each one of you would have to pay for a $200 gift including tax. 14) You'll need to know what time you have to leave your house to go to the doctor's office for 5 PM according to how many miles you will be traveling, the speed limit, peak traveling time, etc... 15) Timing your chores to fit as much as you can into 4 house that you have before you need to go to bed.

1). Shopping for sales. If the product is 20 to 30 % off, you need to figure out how much it's going to cost you to make sure the discuount was applied. 2) Eating out. You would want to check your bill to make sure you were charged appropriatley with taxes and gratuity. Even figuring a 15 to 20% of the bill to tip the waiter. 4) Figuring out you pay check to make sure you were paid for your hours, including time and a half for the holidays, vacation & sick time. 5) Budgeting your money to meet your living expenses. Such as how much