What are two things you need to build a house? Ty Pennington, best known for hosting ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, will show students in grades 4 and up that along with the proper materials, they need strong math skills.
Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, has released “Math@Work: Math Meets Homebuilding,” the third episode in an educational web series connecting mathematics directly to careers and problem-solving skills used on the job.
The 15-minute “Math@Work: Math Meets Homebuilding” webisode is available for free on the Scholastic Mathematics website at: www.scholastic.com/mathematics.
Hosted by Ty Pennington and set in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, “Math@Work: Math Meets Homebuilding” pairs two local students with experts from Make It Right, an organization founded in response to Hurricane Katrina by Brad Pitt in 2007 to build environmentally-friendly homes for people in need. Along the way, Ty challenges the students to think about the mathematical skills they need to install solar panels and a front walkway for the home. “Math@Work: Math Meets Homebuilding,” teaches individual learners and classrooms audiences across the country a number of mathematical skills including measurements, ratios and rates.
“Learning to become a carpenter not only opened my world up to incredible opportunities, but it taught me the importance of math skills beyond school,” said Ty Pennington. “I am proud to work with Scholastic to show students across the country the math used when constructing the fine details of building a house, while simultaneously finishing a home for an extremely deserving family in New Orleans”
“At Scholastic, our focus is to make learning relevant for children and we understand how important it is to engage students with topics they are excited to learn about,” said Margery Mayer, President of Scholastic Education. “By connecting mathematics to 21st Century careers, Math@Work shows students how important the skills they are learning in the classroom today are for a successful future in a variety of jobs. With Math@Work we answer the age old question, ‘when will I ever use this skill beyond the classroom?’”
From the creators of MATH 180, Scholastic’s revolutionary intervention program designed to get middle school students fluent in the foundations of mathematics, each Math@Work webisode is paired with lessons that will facilitate mathematical discussions and problem solving. The full series including, “Math@Work: Math Meets Fashion” hosted by Tim Gunn and “Math@Work: Math Meets Culinary Arts” hosted by Carla Hall can be viewed on the Scholastic Mathematics website at: www.scholastic.com/mathematics.
