There is a big controversy in the world today…
Those who like math and feel like it plays a role in their lives on a daily basis and those who despise the subject and feel like it was a waste of time sitting through endless hours of algebra and geometry in high school. This has been a long-time debate and it still really depends on who you are talking to.
Sure, math is used in some things in everyday life. Those who side with the subject of math, feel that numbers and equations come up in everyday life when we don’t even realize it.
If you are a homeowner or have a career in home improvement or carpentry, then you will most certainly use math in order to figure out the number of bags of concrete needed for a slab, measuring lengths, widths, and angles for your project and estimating future project costs. While you may never work in construction, there is a good chance that you will own a home, where these skills will come in handy.
Something as simple as grocery shopping involves the use of math skills. When walking into a grocery store, there is a good chance that you have an idea of what you want, but you won’t be able to tally up your total until after you walk through the aisles and select your items. You will also need to calculate the price per unit, weigh your produce and estimate the final price. And let’s face it…we all need to grocery shop at some point in our lives.
Cooking and baking are another one of the ways in which math inserts itself into your life. In order to bake a cake, you need to be able to measure out your ingredients. But, the tricky part comes in when you want to double or triple a recipe to feed more. Whether it’s cooking or baking, you will need to use multiplication to figure out how much you’ll need to add to your recipe in order to make enough for everyone.
And then there are maps…math definitely comes in handy when reading a map while planning out a trip. You’ll need to calculate how far you are traveling and how much gas you will need. Maps aren’t the easiest to read, but they are a little easier to manage if you have a decent math background.
So, with all these examples of how math is used in everyday life, can you figure out the following question?
What goes into the empty square? (hint: it’s not the number 6)
If you’re having trouble figuring it out, scroll down for the real-life answer…
Now does it look familiar?
The majority of people drive, so this will look fairly familiar. While you may have frozen when you saw the numbers and assumed that it was a math problem, it was actually just a quiz to see if you could recognize a five-speed gearshift. So, just because something shows numbers, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are being challenged with a math equation.
