Why does mathematics matter

Once I looked from an Etymology perspective, I found interesting literal definitions in two ancient languages. They tell us that mathematics gives us the critical ability to learn and think logically in any field of endeavor.

The skills of learning today are more important than knowledge, which is so readily available on the Internet. The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but, rather those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. A solid foundation in mathematics and science develops and hones the skills of posing hypotheses, designing experiments and controls, analyzing data, recognizing patterns, seeking evidence, conclusions and proof, solving problems and seeking absolutes, while being open to new information.

Studying mathematics not only will develop more engineers and scientists, but also produce more citizens who can learn and think creatively and critically , no matter their career fields. The workforce of tomorrow, in all fields, will demand it. Teaching methods used today stress memorization and the use of calculators. Students are taught by rote instead of analyzing and understanding, with the primary focus placed on test scores. In addition to this quantitative analysis, information about the qualitative description of school mathematics in relation to other subjects also needs to be gathered.

The TSG 25 organizing team cordially invites all interested researchers and teachers to submit papers related to the topic of this group, in particular to its aims and scope. Any contribution addressing questions, problems and issues related to the topics listed above may be submitted. We welcome proposals from both researchers and practitioners, and encourage contributions from all countries with different cultural backgrounds.

In this post we will be looking through all of the reasons as to why this often misunderstood skill should become more prominent in all of our lives, and what you can do with your child to ensure it is.

This blog is part of our series of blogs designed for parents supporting home learning and looking for home learning resources during the Covid epidemic. However, numeracy and maths is used far more often on a daily basis by everyone than we often realise.

Not always the angles of a triangle maybe, but there are calculations your brain will do fairly quickly without much thought if you have some simple maths skills secured. Just look at how much maths is required for this simple brownie recipe!

This FREE ultimate mental maths lesson powerpoint contains over slides to ensure you have everything you need to teach your class mental maths strategies they need to excel! When out shopping you will use maths to work out the best bargains on offer. We may work out that the cost of three individual tins of beans is higher than the cost of a pack of four tins, perhaps. So our maths ability has saved us a few pennies. When we need to get somewhere we might be working out how far it is and then estimating the time it will take to get there, and using our time-telling skills to figure out what time to leave the house to get there on time.

We might even work in a diversion to the petrol station for an extra challenge. If you are doing some DIY around the house you may be measuring walls, working out how many rolls of wallpaper to buy saving more money when it is an expensive roll and working out the total cost as you go. Every pay day you probably notice if your tax is roughly right, you know how much your take home pay is, and you know how much your bills will cost and how much disposable income and savings you have.

Maths comes in really handy when you want to take out a mortgage, open a savings account, or get a credit card.

How much will you pay back? Is a loan or a credit card best for your needs? How much will it cost a month and can I afford it?

If you are into fitness you might work out how many reps of each exercise you are doing, you may count the calories lost and work out if you can go for a cheeky takeaway in return! In short, the number of ways we use maths in our everyday lives is almost endless….

Maths is also all around us in ways we cannot see. You can guarantee that any technology we use is utilising maths to work out both calculations cash machines, self-service tills and also as part of the programming and algorithms it uses to work — and also to target you for relevant advertising, in the case of social media.

We also use maths to save our lives if we need a certain dose of medication or to work out how often to take our tablets. And our brains even do some really fast calculations to work out when it is safe to cross the road. Even without using mathematics in our jobs we are surrounded by it, and you can see from just a few of the examples above that a low numeracy level may affect multiple aspects of your life.

People who have not had the chance to practice their numeracy skills early on in life find many of these things tricky and this can result in, at best, missing out on a few bargains, and, at worst, missing out on jobs and other opportunities which impact on their whole lives. The best way to ensure good mathematical skill and understanding in adults is repetition and opportunities to practice even for five or ten minutes a day starting from a very young age.

It will be useful for your teen in remodeling future homes and apartments. It will help your teen find how much paint they need to buy when repainting a room. It is also an important skill for anyone who wants to install new tiles in a bathroom or a kitchen. Knowing how to calculate perimeters can help your child when deciding how much lumber to buy for floor or ceiling trim. People use math knowledge when cooking.

For example, it is very common to use a half or double of a recipe. In this case, people use proportions and ratios to make correct calculations for each ingredient.

Your teen will use math when buying different items. When buying a new computer, your child will need to figure out which store offers the best price or best financing. Math is useful in finding the best deal for food items. For example, your teen will need to decide which pack of soda to buy when given a choice of 20 oz.