Teaching Mathematics Using Popular Culture

Mathematics teachers often struggle to motivate their students. One way to cultivate and maintain student interest is for teachers to incorporate popular media into their methodology. Organized on the subject strands of the Common Core, this book explores math concepts featured in contemporary films and television shows and offers numerous examples high school math teachers can use to design lessons using pop culture references. Outlines for lessons are provided along with background stories and historical references.

Elana Reiser teaches mathematics at St. Joseph’s College on Long Island. She lives in Selden, New York.

Elana Reiser
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 244
Bibliographic Info: 44 illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7706-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2122-7
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments v

Language and Content Advisory vi

Solutions Explained viii

Preface 1

Introduction: The Theory of Visual Media in the Mathematics Classroom 5

One: Common Core State Standards Initiative 11

Two: Number and Quantity 15

Three: Algebra 54

Four: Functions 76

Five: Modeling 103

Six: Geometry 125

Seven: Statistics and Probability 158

Eight: Outside the Classroom 189

Appendix A: The Euclidean Algorithm 195

Appendix B: Selected Solutions 196

Appendix C: Game Theory 210

Chapter Notes 219

Bibliography 225

Index 231

“a major strength of this book is its usability for classroom enrichment, providing plenty of details on implementing the activities as well as on mathematical content…will be useful for teachers struggling to motivate students through traditional methods of instruction, providing references to pull from once in a while for lesson enhancement using visual media.”—The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; “an amazingly detailed collection of math references found in popular media”—Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School; “a how-to book for math teaching on the primary and secondary school level. There are LOTS of examples throughout”—Communications Booknotes Quarterly.