Who Uses this Stuff Anyway?

AMATYC 2013Thursday, October 3112:40 pm – 1:30 pmS055Britt & Spencer Slade

Where We’re From•Bay College in Upper Michigan Escanaba (Main campus) Iron Mountain (West campus)• 2300 students

“Real Life” Applications

The phrase (“real life”) is also used to distinguish academic life from work in other sectors, in a manner similar to the term "real world." A person with experience in "real life" or the "real world" has experience beyond book learning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reallife

How We Incorporate Them

•Warm-up/wrap-up example•Introduction to a topic•Illustration or picture•Video clip•Journal entry or question of the day•Request for input

Warm-Up/Wrap-Up Examples

• Statistics• Pre-Algebra• Basic Algebra• Intermediate Algebra• College Algebra• Calculus I and II

Statistics: Standard Deviation

I bowl scores of 88, 110, 150. You bowl scores of 106, 116, 126.

Who is the better bowler?

Pre-Algebra: Dividing Fractions

You’re baking cookies and need 2 cups of flour. The only clean measuring cup you have

is 1/3 cup.

How many 1/3 cups will you need to use to get the 2 cups of flour required?

Basic Algebra: GCF

Lisa is making identical floral arrangements for a wedding. She has 32 orchids, 24 roses, and 16 lilies. She wants each arrangement to have

the same number of each flower.

What is the greatest number of arrangements that she can make if every flower is used?

Basic Algebra: Linear Equations

You have $100 to spend and want to use it all to buy some new pants and/or shirts.

In MN (where there’s no tax on clothes), you find a store that has a huge “Back to School” sale; shirts are $5 and pants are $10. If you want to buy shirts AND pants, how many of

each can you buy?

Intermediate Algebra: Absolute Value Inequalities

A manufacturer has a tolerance of 0.25 ounce for a bag of chocolate chips that is supposed

to weigh 12 ounces.

Describe how the quality control engineer can monitor this.

College Algebra: Exponential Functions

In his will, Benjamin Franklin left the cities of Philadelphia and Boston each about

$4500 (in the year 1790’s dollars). If both cities had let the money sit in an account

that earned 4% interest, compounded annually, how much would each city have

this year?

College Algebra: Log Functions

You’re saving money for a trip to Europe that will cost $2000. You invest $1000 into a

savings account that will pay 1.5% annual interest, compounded continuously.

How long will it take the money to grow to $2000?

Calculus I: Slope of a Tangent Line

• Get in a group of 2 or 3• Watch the video closely – take notes!• Help Spencer & Eli solve their fence problem• Be ready to report out

Calculus II: Radioactive Decay

Sodium pentobarbital will anesthetize a dog when its bloodstream has at least 45mg of sodium pentobarbital per kilogram of body weight of the dog. Suppose that sodium

pentobarbital is eliminated exponentially from a dog’s bloodstream, with a half life of 5 hours. What single dose should be administered to

anesthetize a 50 kg dog for 1 hour?

Statistics: Normal Distribution

The average life of a certain type of motor is 10 years, with a standard deviation of 2 years.

If the manufacturer is willing to replace only 3% of the motors that fail, how long a guarantee on the motor should be offered?

Introductions to a Topic

•Liberal Arts Math•Basic Algebra•Intermediate Algebra•College Algebra•Calculus I

Liberal Arts Math: ID Numbers

Basic Algebra: Polynomial Long Division

Error correction code words allow QR code readers to detect and correct errors in QR

codes.

The error correction code words will be generated using a method called Reed-

Solomon Error correction. Part of the process is to perform polynomial long division.

Calculus I: Mean Value Theorem

Officials from the Pennsylvania Turnpike use the Mean Value Theorem to fine speeders.

The theorem can also be used by Law Enforcement to win cases in court against drivers who challenge speeding tickets.

You are pouring the foundation for a new building. The building is to have a square foundation with an area of 62,500 square

feet.

You need to measure out the length of one of the sides of the building's foundation. What

length should it be?

Intermediate Algebra: Radicals

College Algebra: Polynomial Functions

Airlines often regulate the size of carry-on luggage. For many brands of carry-on luggage, the length is

10 inches greater than the depth.

A common airline regulation is that the sum of length, width, and depth may not exceed 40 inches.

What is the maximum possible volume of a piece of carry-on luggage that meets regulations?

Taken from: http://mrskrummel.com/documents/geometryalgebra2/A2CH06A_AnswerKey3hd8.pdf

Illustrations or Pictures

•Basic Algebra•Intermediate Algebra•Trigonometry

Basic Algebra: Slope

•Pictures of slope

Intermediate Algebra: Conic Sections

Trigonometry: Angle of Elevation

Video Clips

•Pre-Algebra•College Algebra•Trigonometry

Pre-Algebra: Least Common Denominator

•Clip from Father of the Bride

http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/m4v/fatherbride.webm

College Algebra: Inverse Functions•Checking Medication Dosages

http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/learningmath/algebra/session3/video.html

Trigonometry: Similar Triangles

•Radiation Therapy

http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/learningmath/geometry/session8/video.html

Journal Entries/Questions of the Day

•Intermediate Algebra•College Algebra•Statistics

Intermediate Algebra: Exponential Functions

In the movie Pay It Forward, a young boy introduces the idea of performing a random act of kindness to 3 people and hoping that those

3 people “pay it forward” to 3 more people each, etc. What if our class tried this?

Describe how this might spread across our town. What other things in real life might

spread in the same way?

College Algebra: Circles

Give 5 examples of how circles are used in the world around us.

Statistics: Expected Value

What does it mean for a game to be “fair”? Is there a way we can define this?

Requests for Input

• Ask your friends & family• Have students ask friends & family

• See provided handout

Comments from Students

• I took this class with you because I like how you show us where what we’re learning is actually used.

•Guess I never really thought about how much math is used everyday. Kind of shocking.

•You’ve ruined me…now I see math everywhere. It was even in the Veggie Tales movie my son was watching yesterday!

Who Uses this Stuff Anyway?Thursday, October 3112:40 pm – 1:30 pmS055Britt & Spencer Slade

Thank you for attending our session!

Britt: sladeb@baycollege.eduSpencer: slades@baycollege.edu