Can we agree, one former math teacher to a current math teacher, that students sometimes think the math skills we teach are pointless? Not just that they aren’t applicable to the world outside the classroom, but that perhaps they were invented by a mathematician centuries ago just to annoy students in the present day.
Create a headache.
That’s why we love asking ourselves, “Why did someone invent this new skill? How did it solve the limitations of an old skill? If this math is aspirin, then how do I create a headache?”
Variables often seem hard to understand and pointless to students. Why would I use a variable instead of a number when numbers are so much easier to understand and operate on?
Invite students to fill in those numerical answers however they want. But encourage them to let Desmos do the work. They can type in things like “2+2” and we'll know the answer is 4.
It might get a little dull toward the end! Imagine if you had to calculate the tax and total for 50 items by hand! That’s the headache.
Then on Screen 4, students experience the aspirin: building a cash register.
This helps students understand that we learn new math skills for reasons that are connected to the limitations of our old math skills. Humans invented algebra not to annoy students centuries later, but to save them time!
Have a fantastic lesson.
Dan & the Desmos Classroom Team
PS. Please give us feedback on the last lesson.
Use the feedback form or just click your answer below then click "Submit" on the form!
How likely is it that you would recommend this lesson to a friend or colleague?
.png?width=1200&height=120&upscale=true&name=DM_Logo_6-A1%20(1).png "DM_Logo_6-A1 (1)"){kind=logo}
