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What is mathematics?

When people ask me what I think mathematics is, I find that quite a hard question to answer to begin with. After having a long think about what I think mathematics I think I can finally answer that dreaded question.

I think that mathematics is everyday life.

Everything in life revolves around mathematics and we don’t necessarily always see it. When we go to the shops, when we watch football, when we bake cakes, even when we go out for lunch! Originally, I thought that maths was all about going into a maths class, calculating numbers and leaving. I would never ever think about it again until I would have to do my homework (usually the night before it was due)

I now realise that maths plays a huge part in everyday life. Knowing this has completely changed my views on mathematics completely, which I never thought would happen. It is almost impossible to get through a day without using maths in some way, because our world is full of numbers to handle and problems to solve.

In the kitchen

Baking and cooking requires some mathematical skills as well. Every ingredient has to be measured and sometimes you need to multiply or divide to get the exact amount of ingredients needed. Whatever you do in the kitchen requires maths. Even just to bake cakes!!

Watching football

Watching the football can require using maths. Numbers are revolutionising football. Every match provides statistics about a player’s pass-completion rate, distance run and shot conversion. Fantasy football leagues assign points to players for goals scored, appearances and assists. On betting sites, teams are characterised by their number of shots, corners and possession.

Planning an outing

Every outing you plan needs your math skill. Whether you go to the beach or the zoo doesn’t matter. You will plan your way there and you will  have to use your time wisely. Being able to tell the time is important so that you are able to use your time wisely which is a huge part of maths. You may also need to think about how much money you will need to take on your outing, checking how much things will cost and the number of people attending.

After reading The Guardian – The Secret Life of Numbers by Professor Marcus du Sautoy. I realised that what I thought maths was and how it was described in the article were not much different. His views on maths are extremely similar to what I believe mathematics is. He suggests that mathematics can be linked to other curricular subjects such as the expressive arts. I had never considered this view before but when researching this, I can now understand how these subjects can link together.

Overall, I feel that maths plays a very important role in everyday life.

Stand and Deliver

For this TDT we were asked to watch the film Stand and Deliver, which I had never heard of. We were then to answer the question – Why is Jaime Escalante different?

There were many reasons why I think he is different.

1. The first thing that I noticed in the film is that he has a positive attitude towards learning. In the film, others seem to believe that gaining an education is not always a good thing but he believes that his students can all do well if they try hard at school. I feel that this made him different in the film because not all of the other characters shared the same opinion.
2. It appears in the film that the other teachers do not care for the students as much as he does and that he makes their learning more interesting by using different situations that the students appeal to which makes the learning more relevant and appealing to these students. He also goes above and beyond, unlike other teachers, as he starts to take the class early in the mornings, later at nights and on Saturdays. This shows that he is committed and unlike any other teachers in this film.
3. One student in Mr Escalante’s class gets a job and explains that he is going to leave and not take the class on a Saturday morning. He takes the student out for a drive in the car and explains to him that it is important to stay in school as it can provide them with more opportunities in life.

Mr Escalante – “You only see the turn; you don’t see the road ahead.”

4. Mr Escalante is portrayed as being different as sometimes he has a different method of gaining the attention of his students. He says to one student, “you wouldn’t want anyone thinking you’re intelligent, would you?” This seems to gain the attention of the student. He also speaks to the students in quite an unconventional way when he says, “it’s not that they’re stupid, it’s just they don’t know anything”

Overall, I feel that the main reason that Jaime Escalante is different is because he has a different teaching method from all of the others, has a strong opinion on education and goes above and beyond to help his students learn.

If I was to have a maths teacher like Mr Escalate, I would have enjoyed maths more in high school and not be so frightened of it now.