Grade(s): 4-12
Pages: 394

Students typically are not given the opportunity to see the wondrous side of mathematics because it is often taught as all scales and no music. Edward Zaccaro’s 25 Real Life Math Investigations features real-world mathematics inquiries that allow students to see the power of mathematics.

Help your students increase their financial literacy by exploring the dangers of short-term loans, rent-to-own plans, and some types of home loans. Watch as mathematics reveals the futility of depending on corn-based ethanol to lower our dependence on oil imports. Learn the surprising answer to how much money a hybrid car will save its owner because of reduced gasoline usage. Investigate math mistakes in the news media and their potential consequences. Read the true story of how a math mistake led to a commercial jet running out of fuel at 41,000 feet. Learn about the mathematics in music and scuba diving.

These and other fascinating math investigations will keep students engaged as they cut through deception and flawed thinking. Problems are presented at four levels of difficulty, and detailed solutions are provided.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Nightmare of Payday Loans
Chapter 2: Corn-Based Ethanol is the Answer to Our Dependence on Foreign Oil - Or Is It?
Chapter 3: Media Math Mistakes (Part 1)
Chapter 4: Media Math Mistakes (Part 2)
Chapter 5: Media Math Mistakes (Part 3)
Chapter 6: The Perplexing Birthday Paradox
Chapter 7: Pilots Make Math Mistakes
Chapter 8: Be Careful When You "Rent To Own"
Chapter 9: Lawmakers Make Math Mistakes
Chapter 10: The Eccentric Mathematician and the Lock That Would Not Open
Chapter 11: The Power of Algebraic Thinking
Chapter 12: The Amazing Googolplex Challenge
Chapter 13: The Strange Medical Test
Chapter 14: Sometimes Probabilities Can Fool You
Chapter 15: Can I Afford to Buy That House?
Chapter 16: Why Did the Bank Take My House? The Mathematics Behind the Sub-Prime Nightmare
Chapter 17: The True Story of Teenage Driver
Chapter 18: Intriguing Math and Science Questions
Chapter 19: How People Lie With Statistics
Chapter 20: The Power of Interest Rates and Money
Chapter 21: Help the Rats Escape
Chapter 22: Trigonometry For Those Who Never Understood It
Chapter 23: The Mathematics Hidden Within Music
Chapter 24: Mathematics and Scuba Diving
Chapter 25: Prices Were Really Cheap When My Parents Were Young! Or Were They? Answers
Chapter 17: Contests

Answers and Solutions

We don't have any sample pages for this title yet but it has a very similar layout to Challenge Math. Sample pages for Challenge Math are available.