Using Real-Life Examples to Teach Math

Why isn't math taught as an applied science? I met a carpenter turned math teacher who was struggling with teaching his school's geometry curriculum, and I suggested that he ground his class in real-world, carpentry models. Ultimately, he chose to leave the school instead. Teaching math can be tough, and curriculum design is daunting. Fast forward a couple of years and I'm tasked with teaching geometry. Well, dang, life has either just called my bluff on how to teach geometry or given me an opportunity to rethink math instruction. Teaching carpentry is beyond me, but I knew that I could take some of the skills, along with technical drawing, and create an applied Cardboard Furniture Design Geometry curriculum. My students still do the number crunching side of math, but now, rather than needing to pass a test, they have an applied mathematics challenge to solve. They need to design and build usable furniture, using math to plan out their construction. This is an example of how you can use Project Based Learning to make an engaging math class. And in today's world, where so much of a young person's life is spent online in spaces like TikTok, being able to set that all aside and just work with their hands, planning, using geometry to build models, making mistakes and rethinking the geometry of their model, has benefits beyond the academic.

The quickest way to lose a class is to start with objectives. The quickest way to win them? Start with a question they actually want answered. When I taught Algebra I swapped “Today we’re learning linear functions” for: * "Could a paper airplane cross the length of a football field?"     * "How long would it take to walk to the top of Mount Everest—on a treadmill?" Heads lifted, pencils moved, and equations suddenly felt useful. Over the years I’ve kept one rule for any lesson I design: open with a curiosity hook that ties directly to the concept. A good hook is: * Short (under 15 seconds)     * Concrete (students can picture it)     * Connected (leads straight into the math)     Here’s what happens when curiosity leads the way: * Engagement rises before the slide deck even appears     * Students remember the concept because they remember the story     * Even the quiet kids take a shot at the first problem     If we want meaningful learning, we have to pay the curiosity tax first.

The best teachers help their students find reasons to care. Back in high school, I wasn’t exactly dying to learn the basics of geometry. I was, however, desperate to beat my brother at pool. That’s when my geometry teacher, Mr. F, made a genius move: He connected triangles to billiards. Suddenly, I was hooked. A straightforward lesson on the different types of triangles might have been a bit dull, but Mr. F made it so much more engaging by explaining how angles come into play when shooting pool. Lucky for me, my family had a billiards table in our basement. So, you could imagine how enthralled I was as Mr. F described how a player can benefit from analyzing angles, calculating, for example, to what degree the cue ball needs to bank off the side of the table to strike another ball in a certain spot. Learning geometry, I realized, could really make a difference. That lesson has stuck with me all these years later. That's why when I explain a healthcare technology idea, I like to start by finding out how it might help solve a customer problem. It’s so much easier to learn when motivated. Why should I pay attention? How does this technical concept relate to the real world? Guiding people toward the answers can make your teaching much more effective. Can you think of a time when a teacher had a shrewd way of making a lesson more relatable? I’d love to hear about it below.