1st Edition

Real Life Math Mysteries A Kid's Answer to the Question, "What Will We Ever Use This For?" (Grades 4-10)

By Marya Washington Tyler Copyright 1995
    110 Pages
    by Prufrock Press

    Zookeeper, horse stable owner, archaeologist, lawyer, pilot, fireman, newspaper editor, dairy farmer, arson detective . . . these are just a few of the real people who, in their own words, share their own daily encounters with mathematics. How much lettuce does the Pizza Hut manager need to order for next week? How many rose bushes can a gardener fit around a wading pool? How many fire hoses will be needed to extinguish the fire? Your students will be amazed at the real-life math faced by truck drivers, disc jockeys, farmers, and car mechanics.

    Real Life Math Mysteries introduces students to math in the real world through a series of problems drawn from a vast array of community leaders, business professionals, and city officials. The problems are designed to stimulate students' creative thinking and teach the value of math in a real-world setting.

    Each concise and clear problem is provided on a blackline master and includes problem-solving suggestions for students with a comprehensive answer key. The problems are tied to the guidelines for math instruction from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This book will get students thinking about the mathematics all around them.

    Make math last a lifetime. Students will delight in the real-life approach to math as they realize that they will use math skills over and over again in whatever vocation they choose. Make math an exciting experience that children realize will last a lifetime.

    More books that make math fun for students include Extreme Math, It's Alive!, and It's Alive! And Kicking!.

    Grades 4-10

    About Real Life Math Mysteries Abbreviations and Symbols You Should Know Note to Teachers Real Life Math Mysteries and the NCTM Standards Real Life Math Problems Banker, Associated Bank addition, subtraction, multiplication of decimals Landscaper, Schalow’s Nursery Pythagorean theorem; squares and square roots; use of π Veterinarian, Wildwood Animal Hospital multiplication of fractions Administrator, Marshfield Heart Care multiplication, subtraction of large numbers; division Pizza Restaurant Manager, Pizza Hut addition, multiplication of fractions; finding common denominator; reading a chart Lawyer, Juneau, Minder, Gross & Stevning-Roe, S.C. PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: WRITE AN EQUATION changing percent to decimal; multiplication of decimals Farmer, The Lucas Farm PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: MAKE A TABLE addition, subtraction, multiplication, division of decimals Taekwon-do Instructor, Side-Kix PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: WRITE DOWN EACH STEP using a formula; subtraction, multiplication, division of decimals Auto Repair Shop Owners, Foreign Automotive Service PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: MAKE A CHART Travel Agent, Marathon Travel finding percentage; subtraction of decimals Truck Driver, Roehl Transport Inc. addition, subtraction of fractions; multiplication of decimals; finding percent; reading a log Horse Stable Owners, Widmare Stables multiplication of decimals Contractor, Boson Company PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: WRITE A WORD EQUATION finding volume; conversion feet to inches; conversion cubic feet to cubic yards; addition, multiplication, division of decimals Detective, Marshfield Police Department subtraction, division of decimals Disc Jockey, WDLB AM multiplication of decimals; finding the square root Zookeeper, Wildwood Park Zoo PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: YOUR CALCULATOR IS YOUR FRIEND multiplication, division of decimals Electrician, Ken Weis Electric addition, subtraction, multiplication, division of fractions Fireman, Marshfield Fire Department changing percent to decimal; addition, multiplication of decimals; finding the square of a number Fitness Program Director, YMCA PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: LET’S TALK ABOUT IT changing percent to decimal; multiplication, division of decimals Newspaper Editor, Marshfield News-Herald PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: DRAW A DIAGRAM changing decimal to percent Engineer, City of Marshfield PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: USE SIMPLER NUMBERS PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: CONSTRUCT A MODEL addition, subtraction of decimals Sporting Goods Specialists, Perkins Sports PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: USE SIMPLER NUMBERS PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: LET’S TALK ABOUT IT mental math strategies for multiplication, percent; reading a chart Recycling Representative, Valley Sanitation mental mathematics strategies to use with addition of large numbers; multiplication, division; decimals Archeologist, Anthropological Studies Institute Pythagorean theorem; square root; multiplication, division of decimals; subtraction of large numbers; changing percent to decimal Nurse, Marshfield Clinic multiplication, division of decimals; changing decimals to percent; changing percent to decimal Airplane Pilot, Aviation Services large number addition; addition, multiplication of decimals Mayor, City of Marshfield reading statistics; creating charts and diagrams Writer, Prufrock Press PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY: MAKE A LIST OF POSSIBILITIES WORK SYSTEMATICALLY Teacher’s Guide to Real Life Math Problems Answer Key Index About the Author Common Core State Standards Alignment

    Biography

    Marya is the author of several Prufrock bestsellers, including Real Life Math Mysteries, It’s Alive!, and Extreme Math, which she cowrote with her husband Kip. They have four wonderful, spontaneous, gifted children scattered across the country.