When Will Math Ever Be Useful?

Following are some examples of when various math skills may be useful in everyday life:

·         You’re buying several items in the store. If you can round, estimate, and do basic arithmetic, including percentages (to figure the tax), you should have an approximate total in mind when you approach the cash register. This way, you will know if you’re being overcharged because the employee made a mistake (or because the computer’s price didn’t match the labeled price).

·         You and two friends buy a large pepperoni pizza. One of your friends needs to leave as soon as the pizza arrives. He wants to take his share of the pizza with him. You need to be able to figure out what one-third of a pizza is in order to do this. You must understand fractions for this.

·         A department store is offering $10 off a purchase of $25 or more. You already found one item for $14.50. You want to buy a second item. You’re trying to figure out how much you need to spend in order to take advantage of the special offer. This is really an algebra problem at heart (solving for the unknown amount). However, you can figure this out if you can solve basic word problems with arithmetic.

·         One store has a sale where you buy three to get one free, while another store has a 30% off sale. Which sale is better? Understanding fractions and percentages can get you the better deal.

·         You want to buy several bricks to make a circular pattern in your backyard. How many bricks should you buy, given the diameter of the circle? Here, simple geometry can save you from buying too many or too few and having to make a second trip to the store.

·         You own a car that gets 30 miles per gallon on the highway. You want to make a roundtrip to a city that’s 1500 miles away. How much gas will you need to buy? How long will the trip take at 70 mph? This is a word problem, where understanding units (miles, gallons, and hours) can help; the math involved is just basic arithmetic.

 

You’re not going to carry a calculator with you everywhere you go. Sure, you can use your cell phone as a calculator, but doing so consumes valuable battery life.

 

And what happens when you type the problem incorrectly in your calculator? Students commonly get wrong answers on their calculators simply because they haven’t entered the information into it correctly. If you can round, estimate, and do basic math in your head, you can check if the calculator’s answer seems reasonable. This is a very valuable skill.

 

Chris McMullen, author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of workbooks