Cooking (measuring volume)

I have been cooking, especially baking, for years, beginning with my Easy Bake Oven. I’ve since graduated to fun things like my Kitchen Aid mixer. However, not matter what tools used, baking in particular is as much a mathematical science as it is an art. This becomes very clear when baking powder (whose chemical reactions in a recipe are also a great example of math in everyday life) is measured incorrectly. For this reason, my three sets of measuring spoons and measuring cups ensure that my recipes are accurately measured every time (or almost every time!).

Toddlers (integers)

The integer 1 has taken on a whole new meaning for me in the past year. My 21-month old son is ecstatic to show people how old he is… using both hands! We’re trying to teach him that 1 and 1 is actually 2. Watching my son begin to learn the mathematics in the world around him is amazing, and I can see firsthand how number naming is only the beginning. He may be able to tell us he's one, but he has a ways to go in actually understanding what that means and making meaningful calculations with the numbers he learns. Baby steps!

Football (measuring distance)

Having grown up in Columbus, Ohio, I am an Ohio State Buckeyes fan by birthright. The heart of the Buckeyes lies on the football field in Ohio Stadium, affectionately known as the Horseshoe. Math surrounds these football games: not only in calculating distance on the field, velocity and release angle in throwing a football, and counting money at concessions, but also in the design of the stadium and one of the school's greatest pastimes, Script Ohio. The entrance to the stadium is a rotunda, built in 1922, which itself would have required countless calculations.

Script Ohio is performed by the Ohio State Marching Band on the football field, and requires precise measurements and impeccable timing. To view a performance of Script Ohio, click on the picture:

Mortgage (compound interest)

While death and taxes may be two certainties in life, so is the monthly arrival of the mortgage. When we purchased our house three years ago, my husband and I spent countless hours on mortgage calculators to determine our compound interest over a 30-year term. Simple interest would have been, well, simpler! For a compound interest calculator, click here.

Art (projective geometry)

One of my favorite artists, Claude Monet, may not immediately come to find as a geometrical painter because of his impressionistic style of many visible brushstrokes that combine to create an image. However, the geometry Monet used in capturing light, as well as the projective geometry in creating amazing perspective make Monet a mathematician and an artist. Also, we can learn about Monet's painting techniques using geometry. The Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom reported in August 2006 that scientists in London "analysed the position of the sun in Monet's works of art and used calculations of solar geometry to assess the time and place where the paintings were made," thereby proving that Monet painted his impression of London from observation, rather than from memory as had been speculated.

Grocery shopping (mathematical microcosm)

The grocery store is virtually a mathematical microcosm, from weighing produce to determining correct quantities for recipes to adding up calories, calculating coupons and exchanging money. Conversions are often a major part of my grocery trips: If a serving size of chocolate chips is 2T and I need one cup, what size package should I buy? Too few chocolate chips a bad cookie does make!

Tracking time (formulas)

In addition to school, I also work part-time and keep track of my hours on a timesheet. I submit this to my company totaled by date, and sometimes by client. I track this information in Excel and use SumIf formulas for easy addition in different categories. It’s a major time saver and would not be possible without applying mathematical skills.

Media Planning (analyzing and categorizing data)

Another part of my part-time job involves crunching a lot of data and creating graphs to present this data in a user friendly way. In order to take raw data and determine how to show this visually requires formulas to extract the relevant data, determining the appropriate data for the x and y axes and scaling the data to the proper proportions. In the end, the client appreciates seeing the information clearly presented, instead of a list of numbers.

Broadcasting (frequency and wavelength)

I work with radio and television in my job, and I also use both media regularly at home. I often wonder the mathematics behind sending a broadcast frequency out to users, and according to ThinkQuest.org, frequencies (of alternating current) must be converted to wavelengths (the distance a radio signal travels) and vice-versa. “This is needed to properly design the antennas that make broadcasting of signals possible.”

Floor plan (scale)

When my husband and I were shopping for furniture for our living room, we wanted to be very careful to buy pieces that were the right size for the room. So, we worked with a clerk at the furniture store to use the measurements of our room to create a scale map that represented the actual space. We then placed scaled pictures of the pieces we were interested in on the map. We could see what would fit appropriately in the room, which meant we could be comfortable with and confident in our purchases.

Eating (calories)

In addition to cooking, eating is also one of my favorite activities! So much so that I joined Weight Watchers a few years ago and followed their Points program. Every day I essentially counted calories (a measurement of energy) and fat grams using a slider provided by the program. I added up my total points every day and tried to stay within the specified range. Counting calories in this way was simplified and straightforward…and I lost 30 pounds!

Weather (temperature)

The weather is always a major topic of conversation in my Midwestern family (so much so that my father was a member of the Weather Club at his junior high school). I regularly discuss with him temperature and precipitation, and sometimes even barometric pressure. Wind chill, the combination of temperature and wind speed as it feels to humans, is definitely his favorite topic. After some research, I discovered that the mathematical formula for determining the windchill factor in degrees Fahrenheit is:

Twc = (0.3V0.5 + 0.474 - 0.02V)(T - 91.4) + 91.4
(Twc is the wind chill, V is the wind speed in statute miles per hour, and T is the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit)

Luckily, we have weather reporters to do this for us!

Angles (geometry)

One of my favorite parts of our house is the arched ceiling in our family room. This angle raises the height of the ceiling in the room and gives it a unique feel. I’ve often thought about the architect and builders of our home, and the precise calculations and measurements they must have to done to ensure a perfectly symmetrical angle for that ceiling.

Fountains (patterns)

In 2003, Essex Junction created a War Memorial in Five Corners to honor those who have served in the arm forces. Living in the Junction, I pass this memorial at least a few times a week, and it always catches my attention. It is visually appealing because of the pattern the designers created – circular horizontally, and flags vertically. The symmetrical design draws the eye and creates a sense of organization and order in the memorial.

Light Bulbs (energy measurement)

In an effort to do our part for the environment and energy conversation, our family recently switched our household light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs. After researching savings in both watts (a mathematical measurement!) and money (more math!), it was a no-brainer. A 75-watt incandescent bulb is equivalent to 20 watts with a compact fluorescent bulb. According to Fast Company, “They use so little power compared with old reliable bulbs, a $3 swirl pays for itself in lower electric bills in about five months.”

Quad marker screening (measurement, proportions)

My husband and I are expecting our second child in September, and just like all parents, our main concern is the health of the baby. We chose to have a quad marker screening, which requires amazingly precise mathematical measurements and calculations. The screening test measures four substances in a blood sample. The levels are compared to normal amounts for the current gestation period. If the due date is calculated incorrectly, or any of the substances are measured incorrectly, the results will be inaccurate. For more information on the Quad Marker test, click here.

Stocks (fractions/decimals)

When I receive my monthly stock statement, I often feel like I’m looking at a foreign language. But actually, it’s a mathematical language, and is often comprised of fractions and decimals. Stock quotes are dollar amounts for a single share, but they are not always whole numbers. When stock quotes are fractions of a dollar, fractions must be multiplied by the number of shares to find the total amount. Rounding becomes important here. For example, imagine if a share is $0.0625. Multiply by 100,000 shares and your total is $6,250. But if the share is round to the tenths place ($0.06), the total is $6,000. Where’s my $250?! Click here for an investing game to use in the classroom.

Painting (area)

When we painted my son’s room two years ago, we needed to determine how many cans of paint we should buy. The paint can told us how many square feet it would cover, so we calculated the square footage of each wall we were painting by multiplying the wall height by the wall length, and then we knew how many cans to buy. No waste! 

Magic (it’s really math)

When I was in college, I had a summer job assisting a magician with preparation for a large show he was doing for the 100th anniversary of the local newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch. Our end goal was to make a Dispatch delivery truck appear on-stage out of nowhere. We pulled it off…sort of. To the audience, it looked like the truck appeared out of nowhere. To those of us behind the scenes who built a replica of a truck, and pushed and pulled it during the performance, it was a series of mathematical calculations. For sample math tricks, click here.

Music (fractions)

While my musical talents are limited, I enjoy the musical talents of others. Math is everywhere in music. As The Go-Gos say, "we got the beat," and the beat comes from math! For example, rhythm is essentially dividing time into different increments (fractions!). Click here to see how notes are essentially fractions of the whole.

Listen to a Piano Solo

Music is a great way to teach children math. Click here for a sample lesson plan.

Lottery (probability)

I don’t often play the lottery, but when the PowerBall jackpot hits $300 million, sometimes it’s worth a $1 ticket. But is it really? The total number of possible PowerBall combinations is 146,107,962, so I have one chance in 146,107,962 of winning the grand prize. Those aren't the greatest odds. Maybe next time I’ll win $1 by not playing at all.

Polls (statistics)

As we head towards another election year, we are already starting to see advertisements and hear debates from the candidates. An important tool in campaigning is also the polls. Most polls are qualified with a stated margin of error. What does this mean? Can we trust the polls? According to Scientific American, “The margin of error depends inversely on the square root of the sample size.” The bigger the sample size, the smaller the margin of error. However, even this calculation can’t correct all errors. Polls can be biased. For example, a phone poll doesn’t reach the segment of the population without phones. Perhaps even more importantly, people change their minds.

Growth Charts (percentiles)

Height and weight percentiles became very important in my house after my son was born. Our pediatrician checked them every appointment, my friends and family often asked his percentile and I recorded every percentile change in his baby book. Growth charts compare a child’s height and weight to the national average for each age and gender. These national averages form a curved line, which is the 50th percentile curve. Theoretically, 50% of children are above the curve and 50% are below. Following the chart tracks any unusual changes in the child’s growth.
Click here for a growth chart percentile calculator.

City Planning (geometry)

City planning takes countless mathematical concepts, from layouts to infrastructure. Nowhere is this more obvious than my hometown of Bexley, Ohio. Much of the Midwest was created in a grid system, almost perfectly geometrical layouts dominated by neighborhoods in configurations of block after block. This system is what is known as the Jeffersonian grid. According to the design website Core 77, "The Land Ordinance of 1785, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, extended government authority over the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes regions. As a response to what he believed to be a confusing survey system already in use, Jefferson suggested a new grid system based on the rectangle. The grid divided land into plots one mile square, each consisting of 640 acres. The grid also placed a visible design upon a relatively untouched landscape. The ordinance was the first of its kind in America but would continue to affect urban, suburban and farmland planning to present day."

Nature (Fibonacci numbers)

Mathematical patterns are everywhere in nature. I enjoy spending time outdoors, and notice these patterns all around. Fibonacci numbers in particular are prevalent in the natural world. Pine trees are especially interesting to me. Every group of needles on a white pine contains five needles. When I was 13 I was certified as a Junior Maine Guide after taking a series of outdoor-skills tests. One of these tests was tree identification. I never had a problem identifying the white pine because of it's distinctive 5 needles in every bundle (one needle for each letter in w-h-i-t-e). Also, pine cones are Fibonacci spirals.