Connecting Math to Our Lives Math Report 2001-2002 OHIO, U.S.A.: Math report from teachers Mrs. Patti Burwinkel and Miss Bail and the students (ages 9-10) in their two math classes at Nativity School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Subject: Greetings from Cincinnati, Ohio USA Hello! We are the 4th graders from Nativity School in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. Cincinnati is on the Ohio River. It is a working river and you can see barges there all the time. The barges haul coal to Cincinnati for the long months ahead. Our class is really looking forward to working with the other schools that are a part of this program. We want to send Math Autobiographies to any class that will read and respond and also send paragraphs and collages of "What Mathematics Means to Me". We're going to interview our parents about how they use Math at work and can share that information with anyone, too. Sincerely, Patti Burwinkel's 4th grade Math classes Nativity School Cincinnati, Ohio USA   Interviews   Math teacher and teaches 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The subjects she teaches are word problems, geometry, and algebra. She uses math in many ways at her job. She teaches math but she has to make schedules for kids to follow. Also she has to figure out test and report card scores. She has to figure out her budget to buy things for class. She uses math in projects like studying the Golden Ratio in Greek culture. She also needs to figure out space for projects. She also needs to measure papers to put on the bulletin boards. She uses time to see how much time is left and needed in class. Also she uses math to figure out her paycheck. I learned a lot about math doing this and I hope you did too. Kevin Shaw I had an online interview with my Aunt in London to see how she uses math. My Aunt is an engineer. Her job is to find out how much oil should come out of a well. She does things like figure out where a well should be drilled, how many wells should be drilled, and if a well will make a profit. The main tool she uses is called a reservoir simulator which she uses to make a computer model of all the deposit she is working on. A computer model a lot of equations it's math! Another way she uses math is by playing the trombone! Music is very mathematical. It's a lot of fractions to add up. That is how my aunt uses math. Kelsey Ryan In my mom's day she used a lot of math. First she wakes up and then she wakes us up at a certain time so we have enough time to get ready for school. Next she has to use multiplication to multiply $2.25 times 10 for my lunch tickets. When my Mom goes to work she usually stops to buy a bagel and coffee. She has to add the bagel price and the coffee price. Fourth my mom uses multiplication and a division to figure out a monthly payment of principal and interest for a note she drafts at work. She has meeting during the day and has to see how much more time she has until the meeting starts. Finally at dinner she uses a measuring cup to measure half a cup of milk to put into a recipe. My mom really needs to know math facts in order to make through the day. Jamie Thoms My Dad Gary Newberry, is the self employed owner of Main Entry. He sells and installs doors on homes in the Cincinnati area. He has been working at this job for five years. Using mathematics is a very important part of his job. My dad uses addition to figure out how much the doors costs. He uses multiplication to figure sales tax and product cost. He uses subtraction to custom fit older doorways. When figuring the centerline to install lock set and door viewers, he uses division. These are the many ways my dad uses math in his job. Without math his job would be a lot harder to do. Mary Newberry   OHIO, EEUU.: Informe de las maestras Sra. Patti Burwinkel y la Srta. Bail y sus estudiantes (9-10 años) de sus dos clases de matemáticas. Son de la Escuela de la Natividad en Cincinnati en Ohio. Hola! Somos los niños de cuarto grado de la Escuela de la Natividad en Cincinnati en Ohio en los EEUU. Cincinnati esta ubicada en el Rio de Ohio. Es un rio muy usado con mucho trafico de barcazas. Las barcazas llevan coal a Cincinnati para los meses de invierno. Anticipamos trabajar con otras escuelas de este programa. Queremos enviar nuestras autobiografias matematicas a otra clase que quiera leerlas y responder y nuestros parafos y montajes entitulados "Que sentido tiene la matematica para mi". Queremos entrevistar nuestros padres para saber como ellos usan la matematica en el trabajo y compartirles esa informacion tambien. Queremos colectar esta informacion y presentarla en forma grafica. Attentamente: Lsa clases de cuarto grado de la Sra. Burwinkel.