Math may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about using The New York Times for teaching and learning, but the newspaper lends itself to math just as naturally as it does to other subjects. Here are a dozen engaging ways to use The Times any day to foster mathematical understanding and skills. And if you have other ideas, please share them using the comment box below.
1. Find Your Dream Home
How much would you pay for 1,000 square feet of living space in New York City? What about Los Angeles? Use the Real Estate section of The Times to compare and contrast the cost of housing in different parts of the country, or even different parts of the world.
Or find a home for sale in your area, find an up-to-date interest rate (for that, you might try ERate), and use the mortgage calculator located next to the real estate listing to compute your monthly payment over the term of the loan. How much would you have to earn per year to afford your dream home? How long would it take to save up enough for your down payment?
2. Find Your Dream Car
Is it cheaper to own a Ford Fusion or a Toyota Prius? Use this Auto Loan Calculator to figure out the monthly payments, check out average insurance rates for each car in your area here, and estimate how much you’ll spend in gasper month. How do the costs of ownership measure up? What other factors might be considered?
Or, use the Automotive section’s New Car Search to find the listing for your dream car. How much would it cost to own? How quickly will your new cardepreciate in value? Search the Used Car Listings to get some idea of how a car’s value changes over time.
3. Find Your Dream Job
How much could you expect to make working as, say, an accountant in Brooklyn? What if you worked in Atlanta? Do some quantitative career research, starting with using the salary calculator to explore the financial aspects of some prospective careers. Check out the base salary range for the job of your choice and see how the additional benefits measure up in different geographical locations. What’s the job market like for your field? Use the Job Search page to get an idea.
Read the complete lesson plan here.
