What Can I Use Math for in the Real World?

I recently read a blog from the world renowned blog The Fischbowl entitled Why Math? by Mr. Karl Fisch. It's not a very lengthy blog, all that it contains really is questions about that very topic: Why Math? The first question in this blog is: How do you use math in your profession? Outside of your profession? Well, math is used in countless things in life. It heps you keep track of your own personal budget, how much to spend, how much to save, how much you'll have after this amount of time. Math helps you plan ahead in your life and it helps keeps your life from getting out of control or other things of that nature. In your profession, whatever it may be, math is there for you to use in any way shape or form. For some jobs, it's obvious, like bankers, construction workers and architectures, and more. For other occupations, it's not so obvious but if you thought about it, I'm sure you could find math in every job presented to you. Now, I'm not going to go on all day talking about math in jobs and I'm not going to answer every question in Mr. Fisch's blog either. I'm simply going to ask you to ponder what I have stated already and to go to this blog and think about the rest of the questions on your own. Math though, it's one huge subject with more to it than humanity can ever discover. Philosophers discovered math in its simplest forms and extended it to discover more complex versions and facts. That is what we learn about in school. This math prepares us for the rest of our lives and it will always be used in such a way. Mr. Fisch, or his student rather, poses a great, complex question: Why Math? So short, yet it can be extended to countless discussions that could go on for hours, even days. In that remark, I'd like to thank Mr. Fisch for posting this question for all to see because it really does make one think. So here, I leave you to ponder what I have said and even more that I did not say: Why Math?

American Presidential Election Debate

I recently read an article from the New York Times entitled Candidates Clash on the Economy and Iraq in Debate by Adam Nabourney and Jeff Zeleny. In it, the recent debate is talked about and how the two candidates argued over seemingly endless numbers of topics. Mainly, the article talks about their discussions about America's economy and the current war in Iraq. Senator Obama spoke about his opinion of how the economy has been handled throughout the past eight years, his opinion being that the current president has not been keeping the economy fair for all citizens of the USA. Obama, throughout the length of the debate, accused McCain of having views that are too similar to George Bush, which he also accused of being a wrong thing. Senator McCain held his ground for the first round of the debate but then "became more animated" (Nabourney, Zeleny) during the time of which they debated about the war against terror. McCain was frequently coming back to the idea that Obama was "green and inexperienced" (Nabourney, Zeleny) and was not right for the role of president. They both had their share of arguments, and I'm also sure that many people across the country watching from home had their own arguments about the debate. The article I read is long and includes many points to it from both political sides as well as from the authors. Everyone has their owns opinions about the election, about the economy, about the war, and everyone has the means to defend their beliefs. Even little children who argue over something as small as whether a toy is theirs or someone else's have the ability to defend themselves with words, just as these two presidential candidates can. Argument and debate can make or break someone and at any stage in their life. Sometimes, it's a bigger issue than others but they still are all issues, no matter how small. I'm sure any person can relate to this concept in more ways than one. I know I can and Senator's Barrack Obama and John McCain better be able to, or else they wouldn't be up on that stage, talking in front of millions of viewers!

One Small Step Into A Larger World

I recently read a blog entitled A New Learning Opportunity by Mr. Karl Fisch. In the early sentences, Mr. Fisch informs that, just this week, he started helping as a “Community Leader” (Fisch 1) for “ADVIS Cohort of Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson’s Powerful Learning Practice initiative” (Fisch 1). Mr. Fisch also called it the ADVISPLP Cohort for short. Well, in this blog, Mr. Fisch talks about how he will be helping with online discussions in this project and, because of his vast experience online, he will be helping with the technicalities of the cohort as well. Mr. Fisch talks about his complete excitement at starting something new and different than what he is used to. He won’t be going into “face-to-face meeting’s” (Fisch 1) like he is used to doing; in fact, he’s barely met any of the people he will be working with. But he is ready and able to take on this new challenge to help other people and to learn something new for himself. Mr. Fisch said that he is also nervous about the new step that he is taking because he’s not a very social person (Fisch 1), but he is enormously excited about this opportunity to learn more about himself and about other people. What really intrigued me about this blog was Mr. Fisch’s excitement and enthusiasm about this project. I have rarely seen or heard anybody so enthusiastic about something new. Of course Mr. Fisch, or anyone for that matter, is going to be nervous about anything new that is to happen to them, but generally, people like change. Change is a part of life and most people usually get excited for change. Sometimes, things go bad, but also, sometimes, things go great, or better than they expected. Mr. Fisch shows that he is ready to take this on and let whatever is going to happen, happen. I admire his bravery, if bravery is the right word for his reaction to this change and I think many people would aspire to react to change more like Mr. Fisch does.

Engine Problems Cause Russian Deaths

I have recently read an article from the New York Times entitled Engine Failure Studied in Russian Air Crash by Clifford J. Levy. This article talks about how a Russian Boeing 737 crashed on the outskirts of Perm and killed all 88 of its passengers. The plane crashed on a railway outside of the city and was witnessed by few people. One person said that the plane hit the ground at a sharp angle and that part of it was on fire. It is believed that the plane had lost contact with the control tower when the plane was at about 3,600 feet off the ground, a relatively low altitude. Officers and investigators are saying the it was possible that the right engine of the aircraft caught fire and was what sent the plane careening towards the ground. This was the second major aircraft crash in Russia since August twenty-fourth. I guess this article caught my attention because I read the title and was surprised. I looked into the article, read it and I felt somewhat unhappy and sorry for the loss of life in this tragic accident. I was immediately pulled into reading this article because of the title. This kind of teaches me that you don’t have to actually read something in full to feel something. This article connected with me, and few other things could connect with me in the same way that this does. A tragic accident, and an intriguing article.

Musical Macbeth

I have just read an article entitled Macbeth: The Musical which was posted in The Fischbowl by Karl Fisch. In this blog, Mr. Fisch speaks about his second hour class and a project that they have recently created. One thing he says about it is that they did it all themselves. Basically, Mr. Fisch told them that they were going to connect the first act of Shakespeare's Macbeth to music. All of his students got completely and utterly into it. Not all of them were experts of music, of course, but those that did have a good musical background were teaching everyone else as well as Mr. Fisch about music and its great qualities. Basically what they did was take the characters from the first act and try to tell their personalities and changes in their personalities with music. They used notes that could tell moods, instruments that fit the characters, and different dynamics that could tell how the characters change throughout the story. I find this blog rather remarkable, really. Not that it’s at all unusual for students to know so much about music, of course not, but that they completely composed something brilliant like this themselves. I could go into more detail, but then I would be copying the blog. Mr. Fisch’s amazement matches my own so my description would be very similar. What I’m trying to say is that I was really drawn in to this article, not only for my own love of music, but because it is a very interesting, intriguing article. This article reeled me in with its great story and fantastic descriptions and I would bet a million dollars that anyone who reads this article will not necessarily feel the same way I do, but they will recognize my own fascination.

Reviving Old Wheat Fields

I recently read an article entitled “Flour That Has the Flavor of Home” by Jennifer May who writes for The New York Times, an international newspaper. In it, it talks about how there are many flour fields in New York and in other places that have long been out of use. Many wheat farms have been out of use or have simply disappeared in the last 100-200 years. But some people who own these large, or small, spots of land are doing something about it and are starting to grow wheat there once more. People from several states across the nation are beginning to grow wheat to make flour and other products. For example, a pastry brand from the nineteenth century is being brought back by using the organic wheat from nearby farms. I think that this is an incredible thing, what these people are doing. They have taken it upon themselves to grow wheat where it once was being grown for their country and for their own satisfaction. Multiple people say that they were told that it was impossible, or nearly impossible, to grow wheat on their land. These people have ignored that “advice” and proved them wrong. Another great thing about this is that these people are using this flour and wheat to make recipes and dishes that taste so much better and are so much healthier, since it is completely natural flower, instead of being mass produced and from somewhere else in the world. A lot of these people are making more money, having a better time with their life and feel a sense of accomplishment because of what they have done. I read the title of the article and it intrigued me, just how it was worded was unusual and unique. Then I read the article and said to myself, “Wow, these are some great people with a great thing going for them.” It is a very interesting article, or at least that is my opinion. Read it for yourself, if you wish, and see if or if not you agree with me.