Mathability: Math in the Real World (Grades 5-8) Michael Cain

The six units each have 10 problems that deal with a variety of real-life situations at a construction site, on vacation, in a business, and at home. The open-ended problems let students hone their skills in geometry, probability, percent, use of charts, algebra, number relations/operations, money, and decimals.

Open-ended performance tasks have become a mainstay of Standards-Based Testing. It is one of the tasks that most students perform at below proficiency level. Much of this low performance is due to a student's lack of experience with writing explanations of the mathematics that made it possible to solve the problem. Mathabilty presents a systematic approach that will lead students to proficiency.

Within each unit, this book provides four different levels of problems. The step by step level leads a student through the problem and provides a format for presenting their answers. The Prompted Level provides the format for presenting the solution and hints on how to solve the problem. The Independent Level allows students to solve and explain their answers on their own. The Challenge Level problems present a venue for gifted and talented students to push their skills to a higher level.

Mathability gives students the experience and ability to analyze real life mathematical problems, solve and explain their methods of arriving at the solution. Mathability is an excellent resource for preparing students for the performance tasks of Standards-Based tests.

Grades 5-8