Real-World Problems for Secondary School Mathematics Students

This is a book full of ideas for introducing real world problems into mathematics classrooms and assisting teachers and students to benefit from the experience. Taken as a whole these contributions provide a rich resource for mathematics teachers and their students that is readily available in a single volume. Nowadays there is a universal emphasis on teaching for understanding, motivating students to learn mathematics and using real world problems to improve the mathematics experience of school students. However, using real world problems in mathematics classrooms places extra demands on teachers in terms of extra-mathematical knowledge e.g. knowledge of the area of applications, and pedagogical knowledge. Care must also be taken to avoid overly complex situations and applications. Papers in this collection offer a practical perspective on these issues, and more. While many papers offer specific well worked out lesson type ideas, others concentrate on the teacher knowledge needed to introduce real world applications of mathematics into the classroom. We are confident that mathematics teachers who read the book will find a myriad of ways to introduce the material into their classrooms whether in ways suggested by the contributing authors or in their own ways, perhaps through mini-projects or extended projects or practical sessions or enquiry based learning. We are happy if they do! This book is written for mathematics classroom teachers and their students, mathematics teacher educators, and mathematics teachers in training at pre-service and in-service phases of their careers.

Contenu
Preface;1. Modelling in Probability and Statistics: Key Ideas and Innovative Examples;2. Problems for the Secondary Mathematics Classrooms on the Topic of Future Energy Issues;3. Coding Theory;4. Travelling to Mars: A Very Long Journey: Mathematical Modelling in Space Travelling;5. Modelling the Storage Capacity of 2D Pixel Mosaics;6. Mathematics for Problems in the Everyday World;7. Political Polls and Surveys: The Statistics Behind the Headlines;8. Correlations between Reality and Modelling: Dirk Nowitzki Playing for Dallas in the NBA (U.S.A.);9. Exploring the Final Frontier: Using Space Related Problems to Assist in the Teaching of Mathematics;10. What are the Odds?;11. Models for Logistic Growth Processes (e.g. Fish Population in a Pond, Number of Mobile Phones within a Given Population);12. Teaching Aspects of School Geometry Using the Popular Games Rugby and Snooker;13. Increasing Turnover? Streamlining Working Conditions? A Possible Way to Optimize Production Processes as a Topic in Mathematics Lessons;14. Mathematics and Eggs: Does this Topic Make Sense in Education?;15. Digital Images: Filters and Edge Detection;16. Modelling and Technology: Modelling in Mathematics Education Meets New Challenges;List of Contributors