John Clement wrote:
<I doubt that any HS teacher outside of math and science or any librarian,
lawyer, clergyman, ... the list goes on has actually used any of those
subjects after leaving school. I would estimate that less than 5% of the
population really uses the algebra and geometry they learned in HS or
college.>
I taught an applied math class here at Western Iowa Tech in which we covered geometry in the realm of area and volumes.
The students of course did not see the immediate need for this.
I asked them how many were planning to build a home. How many were planning to carpet, floor, wallpaper said home.
I explained to them that they need to know how to find area and volume if only so that they don't get ripped off when they hire contractors. When one student suggest that volume and area are the same I tried to show him it costs more to use a volume measurement for carpeting a floor then area.
I don't think they believed me...and I don't think they believed that a contractor would try to rip them off.
Also I had a lot of nursing students. I explained if they didn't understand the numbers and get a sense of what is reasonable, a patient could die. (e.g., giving a patient a 1 kg of morphine instead of 1 g)
Tina
Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429
This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.