Why Mathematics?
2. Math helps you tell time. “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.” – White Rabbit from the movie Alice in Wonderland. Don’t let your ignorance of math make you like the White Rabbit! A recent study indicated that 4 out of 5 children living in Oklahoma City cannot read the hands on an analog clock to tell time. Knowing math, and particularly, fractions, can help you better tell time. While analog clocks may eventually become obsolete, don’t let your ability to tell time become outdated! Use your knowledge of fractions to help you tell time on analog clocks that have an hour, minute, and (sometimes) second hand.
3. Did you know Maths Makes you a better cook? How ?
With a knowledge of math, for example, you can quickly deduce that a half-cup of flour is the same thing as eight tablespoons of flour. This can prove handy if you find that your half-cup measure is missing. Likewise, if you are cooking from a recipe that serves 4 people, but you need to feed 8 people, your math skills tell you that you can simply double all of the necessary ingredients. Without math, you may not have enough food (or have too much food) to feed your guests…
4. Did you Know Maths Helps you develop better problem solving skills? How?
With a knowledge of math, for example, you can quickly deduce that a half-cup of flour is the same thing as eight tablespoons of flour. This can prove handy if you find that your half-cup measure is missing. Likewise, if you are cooking from a recipe that serves 4 people, but you need to feed 8 people, your math skills tell you that you can simply double all of the necessary ingredients. Without math, you may not have enough food (or have too much food) to feed your guests…
5. Maths applies to every career in some way :
Obviously, mathematicians and scientists rely on mathematical principles to do the most basic aspects of their work such as test hypotheses. While scientific careers famously involve math, they are not the only careers to do so. Even operating a cash register requires that one understands basic arithmetic. People working in a factory must be able to do mental arithmetic to keep track of the parts on the assembly line and must, in some cases, manipulate fabrication software utilizing geometric properties (such as the dimensions of a part) in order to build their products. Really, any job requires math because you must know how to interpret your paycheck and balance your budget.
6. Maths is all around us and helps make the world a better place:
To live in a mathematically-driven world and not know math is like walking through an art museum with your eyes closed. Learning and appreciating math can help you appreciate things that you would not otherwise notice about the world. In reality, math is everywhere! Don’t believe me? Read on for some examples of math in nature.
The computers and intelligence systems that hekp us handle complex tasks are all developed with a dose of mathematical functions and calculations.
Bees, masters of geometry, use hexagons to build their honeycombs. The Fibonacci sequence, a famous sequence of numbers in mathematics, is found throughout nature: in pinecones, seashells, trees, flowers, and leaves.
7. Maths is a universal language :
Sure, it’s mostly equations, numbers, and some Greek letters, but math is understood the same virtually all over the world (and who knows, maybe all over the universe)! A math equation doesn’t need to be translated to another language to be understood by someone on the other side of the planet. A mathematical law doesn’t change because someone has a different religion than you or speaks a different language from you. 2 + 2 = 4 in every single place on planet Earth. Pretty cool! The universality of math is one of the many things that makes it such a powerful tool and, indeed, essential life skill.
In summary, math is not only important for success in life; it is all around us. The laws of mathematics are evident throughout the world, including in nature, and the problem-solving skills obtained from completing math homework can help us tackle problems in other areas of life. While many may complain that math is boring or complicated, the truth is that a life devoid of math means that we go around experiencing the world on a much less interesting level than we could.
1. Your Attitude Towards Learning Math:
Everything depends on one’s attitude towards the subject in question. The student mindset plays an important role.
If a student thinks from the beginning that he will not be able to perform well in the subject, he will end up developing a phobia towards Mathematics.
This in turn will affect his learning ability and performance. The positive attitude can bring about a lot of difference. It will act as a confidence booster.
2. Method of Teaching:
Ideally, Mathematics should be taught in a way that is easy to comprehend.
The technique should be such that students can relate to it even after the class is over.
If the method of teaching is proper, the students will be able to add, subtract, divide, and multiply without using a calculator.
But, more often than not, mathematics teachers rely on methods that are difficult to grasp.
They might appear all right on pen and paper. But when its application comes to the world outside the classroom, problems starts to arise.
3. A Lack of Connection Between The Subject and Students
One of the many reasons why students fail in mathematics! Students are unable to develop a connection between the subject and themselves.
They treat the subject as something alien to them. Something that is unknown and scary!
Such students remain absent from the mathematics class. This hampers their learning ability.
They cannot keep a track between the previous class and the one that they are attending.
4. Self Doubt:
Peer pressure is another reason why students fail in mathematics. They are unable to cope up with the pressure to perform at school.
This along with a constant comparison with other good students leads to the rise of self-doubt.
Once self-doubt sets in, it becomes difficult to recover. Eventually, the student’s ability to perform well in mathematics is hampered forever.
Students might not voice out but in reality, they are very scared of the subject. They look out for ways to avoid learning the subject.
5. Low IQ:
Many might not agree. But one cannot overlook the role one’s IQ plays in learning mathematics.
This area is kept under wraps because no one wants to accept that his or her child has low IQ.
6. Short Attention Span:
Some students get easily distracted. They cannot remain attentive throughout the math’s class.
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Their attention wanders and they stop paying any interest. When asked to solve a problem in class they falter and become the center of jokes.
Parents should make sure that their child pays more attention in the classroom.
Both the teacher and parents can use different learning aids to make mathematics appear interesting.
7. Lack of Understanding About Signs and Symbols:
Mathematics is a tricky subject. Especially when it comes to the signs, symbols and significance.
There are many adults who are not very good at it as well.
For a below average student in mathematics, the chances of getting confused between the different mathematical signs and symbols is quite high.
If the student fails to put the degree sign in geometrical problems or the right unit after solving a sum, his marks are deducted.
Knowing where to put what sign and symbol is a vital part of learning mathematics.
8. Teacher Student Ratio:
Generally, a classroom has 15-20 students with a single teacher teaching the subject. This results in poor teacher student ratio.
The teacher in his desire to teach the topic fails to pay attention to every student. He has only a vague idea as to which student is good and which is below average.
9.Many Teachers dont know the subject well enough:
There are many teachers who do not have an in-depth knowledge of the subject.
There are many teachers who perform well in mathematics but when asked to teach, they somehow falter.
Not all teachers can teach well. Teaching is an art. Not everyone is well versed in it.
10. Accessible texbooks and learning resources:
There are many schools where the students cannot afford to buy the textbooks.
If the textbook-pupil ratio is in order, it is not difficult to teach the subject.
If the scenario is reversed, where the students have to depend on the school to access the textbooks, it will hamper the performance power of the students.
NOTE TO TEACHER:
(You can explain this in your own words. Use examples that are close to the students environment. Do make maths look like a simple thing to do.)
Here are links to videos that they can watch:
Video 1 : Technique to help you eliminate Math anxiety
Video 2: These 6 steps will help you overcome anxiety in Maths
Video 3: Conquering Maths anxiety
Check out Major Math tricks they never taught you below:
Was that helpful?
You might be confused looking at the picture above, but the math is actually quite simple (albeit a bit elaborate).
July simply has a code of 5.
20th is 6 because 7 goes into 20 twice, which is 14. 20 – 14 = 6.
2069 is 2 because the leap year code of 2068 is 1 and 2069 is 1 year after, so that’s 2.
The math can be difficult at first because there are a lot of codes, but it works out incredibly well once you pick it up. Here’s a separate example:
January 3, 2014 is a Friday, right?
So, January, according to the table, is 6, and we handle days by using multiples of 7. We don’t need to, so it’s actually just 3 in this case. Next we need to know the closest leap year, which was 2012. That has a year code of 1 and 2013 is 2 years after, so 3 again.
We get 6 + 3 + 3 = 12 – 7 = 5! FRIDAY!
If this course has been helpful, please let us know in the comment section.