"When am I ever going to use this?"

Introduction

How many times as a student have you been sitting in math class and thought to yourself, 'When am I ever going to use this?' The teacher is spitting out facts and formulas at you and you cannot see how any of it will apply to you later in life. You may say that your future career has nothing to do with math because you want to be a police officer, chef, professional athlete, etc.

 

In actuality no matter what future career or life situation is you will have to use mathematics in your life.

Task

In this WebQuest you will explore how mathematics are used in daily life outside of the classroom setting.

Either individually or in groups of two you need to gather information about real life situations in which math is used in some fashion.

 

Then you or your group will share this information in an oral presentation to the class.

Process

Either individually or with your partner, you need to gather information about how math is used in the real world.

Check out these links:

Math in Daily Life: Math in Daily Life (cuemath.com)

Careers in Mathematics: http://www.maa.org/careers/

Math Applications: Real-Life Applications of Mathematics | University of Northern British Columbia (unbc.ca)

Where You Will Use Math: http://www.homeschoolmath.net/teaching/why_need_square_roots.php

You or your group will then present the information you gathered to the class in an oral presentation.

Make sure you address:

Why is learning mathematics important?

What careers use mathematics?

How math can be used besides in one’s career? 

Basically, you need to tell your peers' why learning mathematics is not a waste of their time in school and that is provides valuable tools for later in life.

Evaluation

 Rubric Made Using:

RubiStar (http://rubistar.4teachers.org)

Research Report: Math Relevance WebQuest            

Teacher Name: Ms. Lopez 

Student Name:     ________________________________________

                      

CATEGORY Excellent - 10 pts  Satisfactory - 8    Needs Improvement - 6  Poor - 4      Score
Amount of Information  All topics are addressed, and all questions are answered very clearly with good support. All topics are addressed, and all questions are answered but lack of clarity. All topics are addressed, and most questions answered but lack of clarity or support.  One or more topics were not addressed.  
Internet Use Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.  Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance. Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.  
Organization  Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings. Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs. Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed. The information appears to be disorganized.  
Quality of

Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.

 Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples. Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given. Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.    
Conclusion

 Hopefully, now you understand that having math in your life is important and vital to your future. Mathematics is used in many different areas and situations. You do not necessarily have to be a mathematician or math teacher to use math in your career as you probably discovered. Now when you are in math class do not roll your eyes when a new concept is introduced. Instead, think about how this concept can be used later in life based on what you have learned from this WebQuest.

Credits
Teacher Page

Curriculum Standards (Teacher)

Mathematics Standards Addressed: 

Model with mathematics

Use appropriate tools strategically