Putting Algebra to Work

by Ginny Pinho

On a special Friday session on March 13, my Algebra 1 students were given the opportunity to consider a variety of ways in which their math education might prove surprisingly valuable to them in life. This special double class period involved their watching short video testimonials of several homeschooled adults who talked about how math now plays a part in their careers.

At the end of each video, the speaker presented a challenge problem for New Hope students to tackle that related to their respective fields. Students worked through the various problems in between videos and took a couple of small incomplete assignments home with them to do within the week. Feedback from the students included that the time had gone rather quickly and that they were surprised to learn how many different career paths involved the use of math.