Grade
Levels: 6
to 10
Students
discover the math involved in everyday living as they take a character
from high school graduation to retirement, advising on important
health, education, career, and financial decisions. Students apply
math skills, create representational models, and develop critical
thinking, strategic planning, and time management skills as they
work to ensure their character’s happiness and well-being in
this new math simulation.
Students select
a character to guide through the ups and down of life. Working
as an advisor, your students help the characters manage their
resources to the fullest to achieve their personal goals.
Students
provide a rationale for their advice, and use math to support
the decision-making process, as they:
- Interpret data
and trends on food, housing, utilities, and clothing costs
- Create realistic
budgets
- Read actuarial
charts to make insurance decisions
- Use percentages
to make housing choices
- Read amortization
schedules to determine mortgage payments
- Understand debt
and credit cards
- Calculate interest
for a long term savings plan
- Create representational
models to depict life plans
Students help their character make
decisions, live with the consequences, and take intermediate
steps to ameliorate undesired outcomes. As in "real life," students
will deal with unexpected events-an untimely snowstorm, a parking
lot accident, unexpected fame, or having triplets when the
doctor said twins! In My Mathematical Life, your students can
apply math skills and concepts in age-appropriate social scenarios
that show the lives of a variety of people. This program also
helps develop long-term planning, critical-thinking, and decision-making
skills with opportunities to make social and personal decisions
using math and reasoning.
