Sustainable Mathematics Education: Oct. 7

"Issues of sustainability call for an interdisciplinary conversation. Mathematics educators can bring important perspectives to bear on this conversation, due to their familiarity with the vast network of metaphors, exemplars, applications, and algorithms that underlie proportional reasoning." pg. 21

This quote speaks to me because I personally love the interdisciplinary nature of math and I love seeing the way that math can be applied in novel ways in other fields. One of my own favourite topics of study is mathematical biology which also has a strong environmental/sustainability aspect which makes this quote even more relevant to me and makes me eager to share this kind of learning with my students.

"Sustainable mathematics education is about seeing the world anew through renewed mathematics. It is concerned not only with feeling large numbers, but also with feeling the global situation. It trades linear metaphors of certainty and separation for complexity metaphors of possibility and connection. It helps us relinquish our desire for deterministic predictability and embrace the contingency and stochastic probabilities of each living moment. It turns mathematics from a collection of objects, or a series of competencies, into an open-ended state of observing the world. It aims towards a more complete and appropriate mathematics, and from this position it calls on us to engage in ethical action for healing the world." pg. 25

I really like this quote because it describes mathematics in quite a beautiful way. It moves away from describing math as something rigid and cold to something that is highly applicable to the real world and applications that really matter. It is the language by which we can communicate ideas regarding all disciplines and create solutions for issues regarding the environment and sustainability. 

I will address the climate crisis with my students by discussing the mathematics of climate models, recommending books and other literature for them to read, and providing real applications of how math is used and specifically how the math they are learning can be used and will lead to even more interesting applications. Gearing projects and assignments towards this issue would also be a valuable way for students to put their minds towards this pressing issue and get them thinking and interested in the various fields that are involved.