How is mathematics applied to real world problems?

Suitable for 14 to 19-year-olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom or shared with students online.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 Mathematics.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Professor Anotida Madzvamuse, an applied mathematician at the University of Sussex, in the UK, and the University of British Columbia, in Canada, whose work includes data-driven mathematical modelling, mathematical analysis of models, parameter estimation and model selection by fitting models to data. He also led the UK-Africa Postgraduate Advanced Study Institute in Mathematical Sciences.
• This resource also contains an interview with Anotida. If you or your students have a question for him, you can submit it online – go to the article using the Futurum link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Anotida will reply!
• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Anotida’s research, and tasks them to explore careers in applied mathematics.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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