MATH FOR WORK, FOR PLAY

Matthew Monroe used a target and tape measure to find a property marker.

Most people think they only use the "big four" simple math applications -- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division -- on a day-to-day basis. However, any math teacher will tell you that the majority of jobs require the use of higher math skills people may not even know they use.

"You don't necessarily perform a math function or develop a proof," said Portia Zellars, chairwoman of secondary math for Charleston schools. "It's the idea of mathematics. Learning math applications opens doors that enable you to apply them on a daily basis."

Zellars said math teaches a number of practical skills, including inductive and deductive reasoning, which are both ways of drawing conclusions. It helps you think logically, she said, and place things in order.

"In geometry, you use logic to develop a proof," she said. "You don't necessarily use the angles and the theorems while you're working, but they help you use logic and develop order, and those things carry over into your everyday life."

Martha Dodson, a math teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School, said students need math because it develops their detailed thinking skills.

"If kids apply themselves, they learn analytical skills, and how to judge relationships, all of which they use after high school," Dodson said.

Besides the underlying principles learned in geometry that are used in daily life, there are also professions that apply geometry skills in their profession. People working in construction and cosmetology are only a few of those who use geometric principles everyday.

"We use angles when we want to make sure things are even," said Rick James, a barber at My-T Sharp barber and beauty salon. "We do a lot with degrees and things when we're cutting hair." James said knowing how to make things parallel or at varying angles has been especially helpful to barbers in the past, when customers often requested haircuts in angular designs or shapes.

Besides geometry theorems, students also question the usefulness of algebraic equations for anything other than homework. Dodson said algebra students learn ratios and percents, formulas and solving for variables, all skills that are necessary in both work and home environments.

"Real life doesn't give you the problems already set up," Dodson said. "You have the problem, then you figure out how to set it up."

Zellars agreed with Dodson that algebra is best put to use when people try to solve an unknown. "We discover unknown things all the time," she said. "A former student of mine is a state patrolman, and he once asked me how he used math in his job. I told him he always used algebra and geometry, but he didn't believe me. I explained to him that when he goes to a crime scene, takes all of the known facts and assembles them into a logical sequence, he is using geometry and algebra to help solve the unknown."

Corporal Kevin Orr from the Cape Girardeau Police Department said all skills that are taught in schools, including math, are important in police work. "There are lots of different times when you use math skills," he said. "There are times when you make arrests that people will have quantities of money you have to count and record accurately, and when you do crime analysis, or are trying to pin crimes down to a specific time, area and date."

Both Zellars and Dodson recommended that students take at least one year each of algebra and geometry while in high school. Whatever field students go into will require these, they said, and more and more, these classes are part of the core curriculum required by colleges and universities for admission.

"For students going to college, we recommend they take math for four years, as high as they can go," Dodson said. "Just about every field touches on math to a certain extent, so they aren't wasting time.

"The analytical thinking and learning to think a little in the abstract is good for the kids. They're training their brains."