There is no question that the skills gained in one’s Middle School math class will enable students to be successful in their future schools, hobbies, and professional careers. At times, however, it can be hard for students to foresee how this knowledge will be put to use after they finish school. As a math teacher and parent, Middle School math teacher Maria Squire P’23, P’26 often hears the question “when will I use this in real life?”. Trained in Applied Mathematics, Squire strives to answer this question and to make connections between math and real life every day in her classes. That said, she has realized that most students require more than theoretical discussion to believe that math can be utilized in meaningful ways. Squire recently asked for parent volunteers to visit the classroom and share their experiences with using math in their work. The volunteer responses poured in, and Squire quickly had enough interest to expand what would be a few parent visits to certain classes into a math lecture series for the entire middle school.
The Real Math Applications Lecture Series kicked off with a presentation from Kevin Knuuti P’28. Knuuti, a civil engineer with over 30 years of experience, spoke with students in grades 6-8 about climate change and rising sea levels. Knuuti discussed how data has been collected, graphed and analyzed to discern patterns, make projections and design a way forward using targeted risk calculations. He talked about global historical warming and cooling trends, sea level changes, the effects of gravity and more. He explained and illustrated the math utilized in this work by projecting colorful temperature change graphs, relative mean sea level change functions, linear regression tables and formulas, satellite altimetry/global mapping, future change projection equations, gravity field effects, and risk analysis calculations. Knuuti challenged students to look at the various algebraic equations and recognize that they have already been exposed to the math necessary to do this work! Students also had the chance to ask Mr. Knuuti their questions, such as:
- “Is figuring out the age of ice core samples similar to figuring out soil samples?”
- “How fast does the satellite that maps the earth’s temperature zones go?”
- “Does erosion cause the sea to rise or does the sea rising cause erosion?”
At the end of the presentation, one eighth grade student exclaimed, “Thank you so much! I finally get how math can be useful!”
Throughout the remainder of this school year, and continuing into the next, we are looking forward to hearing from the following community members:
- Jake Reder P’21, P’24, P’26: Financial Basics/Net Present Value/Risk & Probabilites
- Brian Murphy, P’28, P’29: Applied Physics (Light & Nanostructures), NASA Quantum Computing Algorithm
- Yaser Alabdulbaqi, P’30: Computational Science (Machine Learning, Computer Modeling & Simulation)
- Milt Weinstein, G’23, G’26, G’28: Probabilities & Decision Trees applied to Public Health & Medical Services
- Julianne Mann, P’25, P’28: Math applications in Pediatric Medicine
- Carrie Colla, P’24: Economics
- Geoff Colla, P’24: Real Estate Finance
The benefit of hearing directly from these math professionals and witnessing first-hand the reach that these skills have in the world is something that Crossroads is excited to add to our math education. This Lecture Series provides our students with greater opportunities to see the impact of math in real world scenarios that matter to them, to ask relevant questions directly to experts in their fields, to think about what they might like to learn more about, and to expand their mathematical thinking and problem solving skills. This Series is helping our students to understand that math is more than procedures, equations and word problems. Math can be used to define, analyze and solve real world problems, and ultimately has the power to transform ideas into realities.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in taking part in the Real Math Applications Lecture Series, please email Maria Squire and let her know your topic to be presented, and your connection to Crossroads Academy.
