I'll never use this math again - or will I?

How many times has your child said "I will never use this math again"! The fact is, we use math and math concepts every single day, and don't even think about it.  We follow a speed limit, we monitor street crossings and calculate if we need to walk fast or can walk leisurely to make it across the street, we spend money, etc.  The Tutoring Club teaches every level of math our students bring to us, including advanced math!  Read some key points we took from an excellent article:

 

Any global contexts used in math should add to an understanding of the math, as well as the world. To do that, teachers should stay focused on teaching good, sound, rigorous, and appropriate math content and use global examples that work. For instance, learners will find little relevance in solving a word problem in Europe using kilometers instead of miles when instruments already convert the numbers easily. It doesn't contribute to a complex understanding of the world. 

Algebra can explain how quickly water becomes contaminated and how many people in a third-world country drinking that water might become ill on a yearly basis. A study of geometry can explain the science behind architecture throughout the world. Statistics and probability can estimate death tolls from earthquakes, conflicts and other calamities around the world. It can also predict profits, how ideas spread, and how previously endangered animals might repopulate. 

Math is often studied as a pure science, but is typically applied to other disciplines, extending well beyond physics and engineering. For instance, studying exponential growth and decay (the rate at which things grow and die) within the context of population growth, the spread of disease, or water contamination, is meaningful. It not only gives students a real-world context in which to use the math, but helps them understand global phenomena—they may hear about a disease spreading in India, but can't make the connection without understanding how fast something like cholera can spread in a dense population. In fact, adding a study of growth and decay to lower level algebra—it's most often found in algebra II—may give more students a chance to study it in the global context than if it's reserved for the upper level math that not all students take.

In a similar vein, a study of statistics and probability is key to understanding many of the events of the world, and is usually reserved for students at a higher level of math, if it gets any study in high school at all. But many world events and phenomena are unpredictable and can only be described using statistical models, so a globally focused math program needs to consider including statistics. Probability and statistics can be used to estimate death tolls from natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis; the amount of aid that might be necessary to help in the aftermath; and the number people who would be displaced.

If students are given the right content and context for a globally infused math curriculum, they'll be able to make global connections using math, and create a math model that reflects the complexity and interrelatedness of global situations and events. They'll be able to apply math strategies to solve problems and develop and explain the use of a given math concept in the global sense. And they'll be able to use the right math tools in the right situations, and explain why a math model they chose is relevant. More importantly, students will be able to use data to draw defensible conclusions, and use mathematical knowledge and skills to make real-life impact.  

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2014/10/math_is_global.html