Real-World Applications in the High School Math Classroom

Why is it so hard to integrate real-world applications of math into the classroom?  So much of what I've been able to find in textbooks and other resources is so contrived it's ridiculous, and the kids know it.  It's hard enough to get get kids excited about investigating mathematical ideas, but when the scenarios we pose are so far outside the realm of what anyone would ever do it just makes it harder.

I try to incorporate legitimate (or as legitimate as I can make them) application scenarios in every unit in my Honors Advanced Algebra class.  Of course my kids whine and complain; how many teenagers actually want to do word problems in math class that require them to think?  I continue to persist though, and eventually the whining fades and my students become resigned to the fact that they are a required part of every unit.  Every year I get a little bit better about incorporating applications into the curriculum and it becomes a little bit easier to design scenarios that contain a little bit of realism.  One thing I have discovered is that anything that allows the students to build or experiment with something that is hands-on makes things much more interesting and grabs students' interest.

Here are a few examples of things I have done with my students in the last couple of years.

• Measuring angles of elevation with hypsometers in a repeater Geometry class.  

I don't know what standardized testing days look like everywhere, but there are days it means I have a class of kids for 3+ hours because we don't transition while major tests like the Milestones are given, and at the high school level these tests are only given in certain classes.  Let me just say that getting 3+ hours of math out of a group of kids who don't like math is an 'interesting' challenge.  My solution with a group of Geometry students I had last year was to make homemade hypsometers and use them to calculate the height of the flagpole out in front of the school, the height of the awning in front of our main entrance, the distance from the ground the science hall windows, etc.  We took the plastic protractors we use in class, taped straws to the straightedge side, tied fishing line through the hole in the middle of the protractor, and put a fishing weight on the bottom of the fishing line. You hold the protractor upside down, look through the straw and you can roughly estimate the angle of elevation.  Not an incredibly accurate device, however it suited my purpose and cost me about $5 since I already had a roll of fishing line in my classroom (it's amazing how often it comes in handy).  While I won't say every kid absolutely loved the activity, one of my boys made a point to tell me on the way back to the classroom that the hypsometers were "really cool and he never knew you could do stuff like that".  I called that a teacher win.

• Catapulting Gummy Bears in Advanced Algebra.

What is better than having candy in math class?  Being able to build a catapult and see how high you can launch it!  Quadratic functions model the basics of free-fall motion using the function            h(t)= -gt² + v₀t + h₀ where h = height above the ground, t = time from launch, g = acceleration due to gravity, v₀ = the initial velocity, and h₀ = the initial height, so we do an activity where we use this function to model the height of a gummy bear that has been catapulted vertically.   I break my students up into groups and have them build a 'catapult' they will use in order to launch their gummy bears.  I have supplies for them to use; normally things rulers, rubber bands, highlighters they can use a wedges, etc.  I try not to give too much guidance on building the catapult because part of the goal is to get them to think about what type of design would be effective in launching their gummy bear.  I also tell them the goal is launch their gummy bear as vertically as possible because we don't know enough physics and trig to deal with horizontal motion yet.  The more vertical they are able to make their launch, the more accurate their function will be.  After the catapults are built the groups begin their launches.  I normally have them launch from the ground and from something a couple of feet above the ground.  The groups have to video and time their launch (from release until the gummy bear hits the ground).  This gives them the initial height and a (h, t) ordered pair that they can use to determine the initial velocity of their launch.  I then have them answer a series of questions including writing the function that represents the height of the gummy bear over time, determining the maximum height reached by the gummy bear, discussing average velocity, and describing the domain and range of the scenario.  This activity takes a couple of days (we are on 50 minute class periods); it normally takes the groups a little while to settle on a catapult design and get it built successfully, but it is SO worth the time.  It is a lot of fun and hearing the kids discuss the scenario in mathematical terms and explain why the velocity of their gummy bear varies over time, as well as why the velocity as it is dropping is different depending on where the gummy bear is launched from makes my math teacher heart so proud! 

• Pendulums in Advanced Algebra

We are currently wrapping up our radical functions unit in Advanced Algebra.  I was hunting for a cool application scenario that I could use with square root functions and ran across information on a physics site about the relationship between the period of a simple pendulum and its length.  I took that and ran with it.  It's a very basic concept but a fun one because really, how hard is it to build a simple pendulum to model this scenario?  I begin by having my students do some basic research about simple pendulums (BYOD to the rescue), answer some theoretical questions about scenarios that might impact the period of a pendulum, and then we have some fun.  The kids then get to work together to construct a basic pendulum (that fishing line and weights come in handy here too).  Again, I give them very limited direction on how to construct it and where to suspend it from.  They conduct several trials in which they time the period of their pendulum and then average their results together.  They then compare the results of their experiment to the period predicted by their function and discuss reasons for any major discrepancies.  A word of caution, for this scenario I give them acceleration due to gravity in m/sec^2 and they tend to measure their pendulums in inches.  This leads to a great discussion about the importance of units and knowing what units they are working with.  

Feel free to take any ideas here and run with them.  I know that my best ideas are normally sparked by something I see another teacher using.  Also, if you have any great applications that you use in your classes I'd love to hear about them.  I'm always on the lookout for new things to do with my kids.