Kids Can Count On Math When It ComesTo Careers (NAPSA)—It may come as a surprise to some, but whatever future career your youngsters con- template, mathematical skills and concepts will almost certainly be a part ofit. “Generating excitement for math by relating math skills to real-life applications will help children become more engaged in the subject and develop the confidence and understanding of math they will need throughout their lives,” says Richard E. Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center. Professionals around the country described how math plays an important role in their job. Here are a few examples: * Anesthesiologists see numbers everyday as they monitor blood pressure, heart rate, breathing andlevel of consciousness during surgery. * Computer game programmers use trigonometry to create realistic and interesting interface graphics. Physics is also very important to makingrealistic 3D games. * Sportscasters calculate batting averages, earned run averages and otherstatistics. * Politicians use math to manage the budgets necessary to run the government—and count their votes. * Marine captains need maps, compasses and mathematics to find the best route for troops, the distance to the next destination and how longit will take to reach a specific location. * Pilots must be able to quickly Somewhere on the job—whatever that job might be—today’s students are probably going to use math skills they learned as early as first or second grade. calculate various levels of math problems to determine flight paths, fuel requirements and the maximum weight requirements for a safe flight. * Police officers reconstruct traffic accidents using mathematical formulas to calculate vehicle speed, time and distance. To encourage math learning and discovery outside of the classroom, Sylvan Learning Center offers a Free Online Math Activity Booklet. Available at www.educate.com/ activities, the booklet provides 30 days of math writing topics, trivia, questions and puzzles. To read additional highlights from these interviews or for additional ideas on how you can help your child play the game of math, visit www.educate.com/info or call 1-800-31-SCCESS.
