“When are we ever going to use this?!” As math teachers, you have likely heard this familiar refrain. In this presentation, we will talk about how real people use math for making the world a better place. We will discuss how a focus on helping others (and the environment) might allow more students to connect with math, and we will share cases we have created based on interviews with real people about how they use math to make the world a better place. Cases are designed to be used in classrooms, beginning with artifacts and a notice/wonder structure to engage students and then digging deeper into the uses of math and how they benefit the world. We’ll solicit your feedback on the cases, and you’ll have the option to try them out in your classrooms this spring! Let’s work together to help more students see how math can be used to make the world a better place.
