Algebra 1 curriculum with the most real world problems

[SJ.]

I am looking for an alg 1 program that has real world application problems.  I would like to have problems for ds to work on that show what he is learning has real world application. Ideas?

[ScoutTN]

Have yoy looked at Real World Algebra by Zaccaro? 

I think it is a supplement book rather than a complete text, but maybe it would fit the bill? 

[8filltheheart]

Foerster's would give you plenty of real world application word problems.

[EKS]

I am going to be honest here.  No matter how couched they are in "real world" terms, word problems are not real world problems.  They're just another exercise.  Your son is not going to see that math is "useful" by doing them.  This is not to say that I don't think word problems are important--they are.  

Frankly, math at the Algebra I level and above is rarely useful in a way that an 8th grader would experience.  A more inspiring approach might be to find a text that has problems that illustrate the math being taught in was that is both puzzle-like and aids in understanding.  This will teach the *skills* necessary for "real world" work in the future, but will also have immediate benefits--most notably the possibility of the student having an occasional aha moment during his math lesson.

Edited July 30, 2018 by EKS

[RenaInTexas]

Glencoe Algebra does a decent job of this. It is a full curriculum. 

During my career as a mathematician, a lot of the problems I worked on could be summarized in about 3-5 sentences. Clearly, a certain level of background knowledge is assumed. The problems in Glencoe Algebra, I believe, are accessible to most 8th grade students; ie most 8th graders should have sufficient background knowledge to understand the full context of the problem. Don't overthink it.

[smfmommy]

https://www.exeter.edu/mathproblems  Start with Math 1.  You can email them for answers if needed.

Philips Exeter Academy teaches math with only problems, no textbook.  As a parent you will probably need a text to cover the concepts but this can supply  plenty of real world problems.

@EKS - any ideas where to find a text like you are describing?  I don't think one exists at the high school level.

[EKS]

2 hours ago, smfmommy said:

@EKS - any ideas where to find a text like you are describing?  I don't think one exists at the high school level.

Good question!  Perhaps AoPS?  I say "perhaps" because I have not used it.

[smfmommy]

2 hours ago, EKS said:

Good question!  Perhaps AoPS?  I say "perhaps" because I have not used it.

I have no idea either.  I often hear the same type of suggestion you made (logic based, project based, word problem based) but outside of a few supplemental things or materials like Philips Exeter Academy that assumes a very knowledgeable teacher there doesn't seem to be anything out there.  I wish someone would write a book that a mom and kid can sit down and work through together (no classroom assumed) and is a complete program.

[8filltheheart]

I am going to disagree with EKS. Foerster's has excellent word problems appropriate for the level of math being taught. My theory-loving kid loved AoPS. My engineer kid was absolutely well-served by Foerster's. (My AoPS guy didn't transition to AoPS until after alg 2. He used Foerster's for both alg 1 and alg 2. They provided him a solid enough background for a smooth transition to AoPS.)

I think it is false to assume there isn't a complete program out there. Fwiw, I found Foerster's when my oldest (now almost 30) was in 6th grade. I researched the courses being taught at the top prep schools in the country. Foerster's was being used by multiple. That is what made me decide to use it.  I am not a math mom. I actually stink at math somewhere around the middle of alg 2, but Foerster's has enabled my kids to excel in math despite my not being a great math teacher.

[Targhee]

3 hours ago, EKS said:

Good question!  Perhaps AoPS?  I say "perhaps" because I have not used it.

Love AOPS, but no. This isn’t full of real world problems.

ETA Whoops thought that was in reference to OP’s question. AOPS is solid conceptually and does use some puzzles, there’s definitely high interest if you like math.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Targhee

[EKS]

11 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I am going to disagree with EKS. Foerster's has excellent word problems appropriate for the level of math being taught. My theory-loving kid loved AoPS. My engineer kid was absolutely well-served by Foerster's. (My AoPS guy didn't transition to AoPS until after alg 2. He used Foerster's for both alg 1 and alg 2. They provided him a solid enough background for a smooth transition to AoPS.)

I think it is false to assume there isn't a complete program out there. Fwiw, I found Foerster's when my oldest (now almost 30) was in 6th grade. I researched the courses being taught at the top prep schools in the country. Foerster's was being used by multiple. That is what made me decide to use it.  I am not a math mom. I actually stink at math somewhere around the middle of alg 2, but Foerster's has enabled my kids to excel in math despite my not being a great math teacher.

I don't think we're disagreeing at all. 

I'm not saying that there aren't good math programs out there.  I'm not saying that there aren't programs that have good word problems.  And I'm not saying that you can't get a good math education without exposure to real world problems.

I'm saying that real real world problems aren't word problems--at least they aren't the kind that you'll find in a textbook. 

Well, actually, that's not entirely true.  One kind of real world problem is mind numbingly routine.  For example, I worked as a scientist for many years and there were certain types of calculations I had to do over and over.  Or when you calculate the tip at a restaurant, or do your taxes, or balance your bank account--these sorts of things are all incredibly routine for adults.  But this sort of thing isn't overly exciting, and in theory, most math programs should prepare students fairly well for it (including the job related math).  

The kind of real world problems that actually show how math is used creatively in the real world don't, and I would argue can't, exist in the form of a word problem in a textbook.  This is because when you use math creatively, you have a question or problem that is personally or professionally meaningful to you that you need to solve, and it is not immediately apparent exactly how you might go about using the math you know to solve the problem. (If it were immediately apparent, the problem would be in the routine category, not the creative category.)  The point is that a key aspect of a real world problem is that there is some sort of emotional investment in the process--you want to know the answer because of a real problem or question that you have.  (I should point out that one person's creative-category problem may be another person's routine problem.  The point here isn't about the math; it's about engagement with the math.)

To get at approximating a real world experience, a key issue will be the student's emotional investment in the problem, which means that at a minimum, the student should be curious enough about the problem to genuinely want to find the solution.  And the problem should require that the student draw from all of their math knowledge and even things that they haven't learned yet, not just the chapter topic.

So you can see that by definition, even the best textbook problem is never going to truly mimic a real world problem.  It can't.  Even the new fangled "ill-structured" problems that are all the rage in education circles aren't going to do it because they are contrived.  The only problems I've seen that might approximate the creative experience are the puzzle-like problems--the ones you'll find in math contests or the AoPS materials or even in regular textbooks sometimes labeled as "challenge" problems. But these won't work with students who dislike them because they're hard.