Math Apprentice: Math is the path to anything you want to be

Math Apprentice is a site that connects math to real world careers by allowing students to be apprentices at various companies, applying their math skills to real world challenges.  It introduces students to more advanced mathematical ideas as they read about additional math concepts used in each showcased career.  The site was created with the belief that it is important for students to interact with math concepts beyond the standards, since this is where the joy of math can often be found.

The math behind each job:

• Doodles (artwork) - transformations
• Game Pro (video game programming) - Pythagorean Theorem
• Wheelworks (bicycle design) - gear ratios
• Sweet Treat Cafe (running a restaurant) - sales data, adjusting the recipe, buying supplies, setting the prices
• Space Logic (robotics) - distance = rate x time, interpreting a graph
• Builders, Inc. (builders and contractors) - area and perimeter
• Adventure Rides (roller coaster design) - relationship between height and speed
• Trigon Studios (computer animation) - sine and cosine functions

There are detailed notes and strategies for middle school math use.  Check it out.