Importance of Math
Importance of Math (2:11)
“Math is very important now because it equates to money later. You want to be able to provide and take care of yourself. It is not enough to rely on the calculator or mom, dad, future husbands, or whomever to take care of the finances. Math is important for girls to study because it gives them an opportunity to learn how to process information. Even if a particular girl doesn’t go into the math or she doesn’t seek it as a potential career, it still gives her the necessary tools that she needs in her everyday life or her career.”
Role models in order of appearance: Keisha Perry, Shacara Johnson, Nina Renner-Thomas, Imelda Reyes, Sundari Mitra, Latoya Simmons, and Sabina Burns.
1) The first role model in the video said, “Math is important now because it equates to money later.” What do you think the role model meant when she said this? Do you agree?
2) This same role model also said that you should not rely on a calculator, Mom, Dad, or your future spouse to take care of the finances (money). What do math skills have to do with handling money? Why is it important to be independent, or able to take care of your own finances?
3) A role model in the video said that math skills can help you in your everyday life. How might knowing math skills help you in your everyday life? Can you think of ways that you currently use math skills outside of school? Give examples.
4) A role model in the video said that mastering math skills and concepts can help bolster your confidence. How might knowing math have the power to help you feel better about yourself? Explain your answer.
5) The successful role models in the video believe that understanding math can help you solve problems in other areas of your life. Give an example of how understanding math can help you become a better problem-solver in another area of your life.
6) In the video, we learn that it can be helpful to think of math as a language that is made up of numbers instead of words. Why might it be helpful for someone to think of math as a language? How do you think of math?
7) The last role model in the video said she let her fear of math stop her from going after a career she wanted. What would you do if you wanted a career that involved math, but you were afraid of math? What advice might you give to a friend if she found herself in this situation?
Math is very important now because it equates to money later. You want to be able to provide and take care of yourself. It is not enough to rely on the calculator or mom, dad, future husbands, or whomever to take care of the finances. Math is important for girls to study because it gives them an opportunity to learn how to process information. Even if a particular girl doesn’t go into the math or she doesn’t seek it as a potential career, it still gives her the necessary tools that she needs in her everyday life or her career.
You may just see it as a topic that you’re learning for school, but it really does help to bolster your personality, your confidence, and just helps to move you forward.
Once you start falling behind, it’s so much harder to catch up. And you don’t want to memorize things just for that test that you’re taking tomorrow. You want to understand why it is that you’re doing what you’re doing so that it makes sense and you’re able to pull that through to other problems.
If you’re afraid of it, it’s going to scare you more. But if you treat it as a language that is made up of numbers and some signs, which are punctuation marks, for example, it’s going to start flowing like a story. It’s like you can literally read it like that. So don’t treat math as something that can scare you.
I encourage all girls to pursue careers in math or just to pursue some courses in math because it’s so heavily used. I believe the more that you’re educated and the more that you do understand languages, including the mathematical languages we use, the more empowered you are as a woman.
There is still that part of me that thinks, “What if I hadn’t been intimidated by math? I would be an architect today.” And I still have that passion, but it’s not my profession, only because I let something scare me away. And so my message to girls today is don’t let something scare you away. Take a look at it and see, have the confidence in yourself that you can do it, and follow your passion.
Independent Learning Guide: This all-purpose guide can be used by educators, parents, and mentors to jumpstart a lively discussion about the importance of math.
Have you ever wondered how the math skills you’re learning now will help you later in life? This video’s got the answer.
Classroom Lesson Plan: This step-by-step lesson plan is available to guide a more in-depth “before, during, and after” learning experience when viewing the “Importance of Math” video with students. This lesson plan is also suitable for use in after-school programs and other educational settings.
Use Empowerment Activities as a fun way to reinforce the video topic and build community with your students.
Fun Page Activity: Have fun matching careers to math skills with this activity. You might be surprised at how many ways people use math in their careers.