Throughout most maths classrooms all over the world, students are asking the same question: “But Miss, why do I even need to know this?” They feel frustrated at the seemingly useless content they are learning and wonder why they are wasting their time learning something that they’ll never need to use again. Aside from the important ways maths can aid our personal growth, there are also many real world applications to the maths we learn in the classroom!

Shopping

Understanding percentage and ratio can help us get the best value for money while shopping. If you have two options: a 500g pack of grapes for $35 and a 350g pack of grapes for $30, which is the better value for money? By using ratios, we find out that the 500g pack of grapes is actually the better deal than the seemingly ‘cheaper’ one! What about if you saw some clothes on sale? How would you use maths to calculate the new price?

Sports

When playing sports, we need to understand the relationship between time, distance and speed, as well as concepts like geometry. How do you know how to position yourself on the pitch to score? We need to consider angles, position and speed – all mathematical concepts! What about figuring out how many more losses your team can afford before they lose their position in the league? 

Music

Musicians use maths to divide smaller pieces – halves, quarters and eighths. Knowing how these fractions relate to each other is important in both maths and music. Music is also full of patterns, like repeating melodies or drumming patterns. Understanding and recognising patterns helps musicians create songs that are nice to listen to.

So the next time you are shopping in a supermarket, watching your favourite sport or listening to music, watch out for the interesting ways maths crops up in our lives!