Mathalicious

Mathalicious is an awesome website that helps teachers teach standard base math through real world applications. The site provides lessons for teachers, as well as student handouts and multimedia presentations. According to the website, "61% of middle school students say they'd rather take out the garbage than do their math homework." They just don't understand it or do not know why they need it. With the lessons mathalicious offers, students learn to use math to explore the world around us. The lessons engage the students and help them understand how the world works.

These are some of the questions the students explore:

1. How long would you have to run to burn off a McDonald’s Extra Value Meal? (Equations and Expressions)
2. Do people with small feet overpay for shoes & should Nike charge by weight? (Unit Rates)
3. In the Olympics, do taller sprinters have an unfair advantage? (Ratios and Proportions)
4. Does “bankrupt” come up more often than it should & is the show rigged? (Percents and Probabilities)


These lessons help teachers promote problem solving and critical thinking skills. Students answer open ended questions that they are actually interested in and want to think about. And because they are standard based lessons, they will still be prepared for the standarized tests ate the end of the year. I know that I would rather do any one of these lessons than listen to a teacher talk for 45 minutes about unit rates.