Too often individuals perceive mathematics as a set of isolated facts and procedures. Through curricular and everyday experiences, students should recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas. [It should include problem solving as a] means of engaging in a task for which the solution method is not known in advance. Students should have frequent opportunities to formulate, grapple with, and solve complex problems that require a significant amount of effort.

-Guiding Principles for Mathematics Curriculum and Assessment

Dan Meyer is one of those brilliant teachers who finds creative ways to engage his students with real world math problems. Using techniques that focus on exploration and observation, Dan frames problems that are both curricularly significant and relatively manageable. He does so through imagery, video, and other technologies, but not through the typical crutch of word problems. The less is more principle that he employs combined with the fact that he uses a very un-schooly delivery mechanism (it’s not reading sentences with math problems) are just a couple of reasons why I believe this is more of the model of everyday math that NCTM describes in their standards.

Take a look at the following clip…

I created a flash-based prototype for an iPhone app a couple of months ago. Called “The Math Trail,” this prototype’s primary function is to situate and share real world math problems on iPhone devices using the internal GPS functionality. Dan’s “grocery store dilemma” is an exemplar for this type of app. I think the name should be changed from “The Math Trail” to “Dy/Dan Math” if someone (not me) ever takes my idea and makes it a reality.

Take the red pill and click on the flashing arrow below. Make sure to click on Discover when the main screen loads.

Click to view an enlarged version of the Math Trail prototype.