Before we start talking about mathematical ideas beginning with E today, let’s address the elephant in the room. Elephant begins with E, so I think it’s appropriate here, don’t you?
Maybe you’ve been reading or tuning in from the beginning with this post or with episode 1 of the podcast and this idea has been running through your mind the whole time or maybe you are fairly new here and you aren’t yet seeing yourself as a math person.
When I point out the math someone is using or I remind them what they are doing involves mathematical thinking and that they are a math person because of this, sometimes they reply with something along the lines of…well, yes, I keep track of my budget, but that doesn’t make me a math person.
This lets me know that part of what’s holding people back isn’t the math, it’s what we believe is required to be a math person. I believe there are two requirements for being a math person.
- Be a person.
- Interact with math.
That’s it. Speed is not a requirement. Making an A in math class is not a requirement. Understanding the principles of calculus is not a requirement. Feeling confident in your math ability is not a requirement. All that is required to be a math person is that you, as a human, interact with math.
You do this so often you aren’t even aware you are doing it. It’s second nature and part of who you are and how you operate in the world.
That makes you a math person.
There’s a lot more I could say about this, and for now I’m just going to leave it there for you to ponder, so we can think about some mathematical ideas that begin with E.
There are a lot of math ideas that begin with E and many of them are closely related, which makes it a bit of a challenge when choosing which ones to present here. So, today, I have a couple of individual ideas for you and a group of related ideas.
Even Numbers
Let’s begin with even numbers. As I am sure you are aware, whole numbers can be even or odd. To be even means a quantity can be divided into two groups containing the same number of items. We usually learn that numbers ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 fit this description and often this is how we begin when we are asked to count by twos. I’m not going to give you a list of how you use even numbers on a daily basis, but I do challenge you to notice when you are.
Even numbers are everywhere and you use this idea frequently.
Estimation
E is for even and it’s also for estimation. Estimation is using what we know to make an educated guess about something we don’t have an exact value for and it’s one math idea you use so frequently that I know it’s second nature. I even devoted one of my first episodes to estimation. It’s episode 3 – Math is Close Enough. If you’d like to dive deeper into where this might show up for you I invite you to have a listen. You can also read it here.
A couple of examples of where you estimate are when determining how much time to block in your calendar for meetings or errands or your to-do list and how much you can spend on groceries this week.
It feels repetitive, I know, but I have to say it. You use even numbers and you estimate all the time which means you are a math person, even if you don’t see yourself that way yet.
One of the things I love about math is that the more I learn about it, the more I see how everything is connected. That’s true in the season of life I’m in, too, actually. It’s fun for me to suddenly become aware of how something happening in my life now is connected to my past or to my future. Have you ever had that experience?
When I’m learning or relearning something in math, or when I’m listening to a student talk about their thinking, I sometimes uncover another layer of my own understanding about the idea and how it relates to other mathematical ideas. I often wonder if there are any other people out there in the world who get excited when this happens.
Expressions, Equations, Equvalence
E is also for expressions, equations, and equivalence, a group of math ideas that are so closely related we sometimes use them interchangeably. Expressions communicate ideas or represent relationships…your daily life is full of expressions of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. For now, let’s narrow this down to when and how you use them with numbers. You might not always write down a mathematical expression you are using, like you had to many times during math class, but I bet you think this way.
When you double a recipe, for example, you multiply each ingredient amount by 2, so 3 cups of flour becomes 3 times 2, or 6 cups.
3 times 2 is an expression.
The thing it equals or is equivalent to, 6 cups, is also an expression.
When you put these two expressions together in one statement, 3 cups times 2 is 6 cups, you’ve created an equation. A statement that says the two expressions are equal or equivalent.
Like I said, these ideas are closely related and you use expressions and equations when you think about numbers even when you don’t realize that’s what you are doing. Can you think of some other places expressions, equations and equivalence show up in your life?
You might use equations in spreadsheets. In this context they are referred to formulas, which we might dive into in the next post. And, when you hit the enter or equal sign button on your calculator, you create an equation based on the numbers and operations you entered.
The ideas of equivalence and being equal don’t just have to do with numbers. You might encounter this in family matters about will distributions, where each sibling wants an equal share of an inheritance. Or when you make ingredient substitutions in recipes when cooking or baking.
Expressions, equations, and equivalence are part of your daily life. You interact with them so often you don’t even recognize the mathematical connection. In case you aren’t sure what I”m going to say next, that makes you a math person.
I’m so glad you joined the conversation today! I’m on a mission to change the way the world sees math, and that begins with you. If you found value in this post, if something you read made you pause, or if you suddenly realized the hidden math in something you do every day, now is your chance to join the movement!
How can you help? When you subscribe to, rate, and share the I See Math People podcast or A Pocketful of Pi, more people will see it and the more people who get the message, the more mindsets can begin to shift. That, my friend, is how movements gain momentum.
Thank you so much for being part of this discussion of a few of the mathematical concepts beginning with the letter E. I truly hope stop to consider the elephant in the room…your belief about what it means to be a math person…and that you read something about even numbers, estimation, expressions, equations, and equivalence you can relate to and that it made you stop and think about where math shows up for you on a daily basis. Noticing where you interact with math is the first step to shifting your mindset and seeing yourself as the math person you really are.
I’m Jennifer Mason Hardin and everywhere I look I see math people just like you.
