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In
"Mathematics In Our Daily Lives: Lesson One"
we generated a list of everyday tasks which
require at least some arithmetic skills.
As we continue this discussion in Lesson 2 let's
now think about just how we would do each calculation.
Would it be best to do the calculation
mentally?
Or, should we use a pencil and paper
and actually "work out" an answer?
Perhaps the best way to do a particular calculation
would be to use a calculator. Or
perhaps no one way is best,
and some, or all of the methods would work equally well.
|
Task |
Mentally |
Paper & Pencil |
Calculator |
|
Balance checkbook |
NO |
YES |
YES |
|
Groceries |
YES |
NO |
MAYBE |
|
Tipping |
YES |
NO |
NO |
|
Keeping Score |
YES |
YES |
NO |
|
Cooking/Baking |
YES |
NO |
NO |
|
Making Change |
YES |
NO |
NO |
| Gas
Mileage |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Discount |
YES |
NO |
MAYBE |
|
Paint, wallpaper,etc |
NO |
YES |
YES |
|
Measuring Lumber |
NO |
YES |
YES |
|
Sewing/Knitting |
YES |
YES |
NO |
As you can
see from the chart, we use different methods for
different activities....and remember this is a very short list.
However, please note that we do a number of activities
mentally....
and yet we don't practice that skill very often in a regular
math class. We'll come back to this in a minute.
What we will do now is to make another chart, but this time we'll
decide whether the activity requires an
exact answer, or if
an estimate will do the trick.
|
Task |
Exact Answer |
Estimate |
|
Balance checkbook |
YES |
NO |
|
Groceries |
NO |
YES |
|
Tipping |
NO |
YES |
|
Keeping Score |
YES |
NO |
|
Cooking/Baking |
NO |
YES |
|
Making Change |
YES |
NO |
| Gas
Mileage |
YES |
YES |
|
Discount |
MAYBE |
YES |
|
Paint, wallpaper,etc |
YES |
YES |
|
Measuring Lumber |
YES |
YES |
|
Sewing/Knitting |
YES |
YES |
Now, there
might be some disagreement on a few of these tasks,
but for the most part the list is fairly accurate.
Notice how often an estimated answer is perfectly
acceptable, so this is a skill we need to practice,,,,even if
you don't do it often in math class.
So, what can we learn from these two lessons?
First, math plays a huge role in
our everyday lives.
Secondly, we use a variety of methods
when we do
these calculations. With mental math
playing
a very important role.
And third, an estimated answer
is often appropriate
for the kind of math we do in our daily lives.
The lesson to be learned from this is that we need to practice
our math skills using all of these methods.
And even though being able to calculate an
exact answer is important, it is just as important
to be able to get an answer that's "good enough"
for the task at hand.
So the next time (probably later today) you find
yourself doing an activity, outside of school, which
requires some math....think about how you do it...
Who knows...you just might start thinking about your
math abilities as a very important tool which you will use
nearly everyday for the rest of your life!
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