"When will I ever use this?" is the question every maths teacher dreads. The answer is everywhere—but we have to show students. Year 5-8 is when students start seeing maths as abstract and pointless. Real-world problems change that.
The Relevance Problem
AFL and Sport
Problem: "The local AFL team scored 7 goals and 3 behinds. A goal is 6 points and a behind is 1 point. What's their total score? If the opposition scored 52 points, who won and by how much?"
This uses percentages, division, subtraction—all hidden in a context Year 7s care about. Follow up: "How many more points would they need to win?" or "What are the possible combinations of goals and behinds that make exactly 54 points?"
Shopping and Money
Problem: "You have $50 to spend on back-to-school supplies. Pens are $1.20 each, notebooks $3.50 each, and a geometry set is $8.95. What combinations can you buy? If you buy 5 pens and 3 notebooks, how much do you have left? Can you afford the geometry set?"
This embeds decimals, percentages (if you add a discount), and budgeting into authentic choice.
Local Contexts
Where do your students live? What matters to them?
- Rural: Farm area, fencing calculations, livestock numbers, water tank capacity
- Coastal: Tides, fish populations, beach erosion, surfboard dimensions
- Urban: Public transport costs, apartment sizes, electricity usage
Students solve problems about their own world.
The Three-Act Problem Structure
Act 1 (Setup): Show an image or scenario. "Sarah is building a raised garden bed in her backyard."
Act 2 (The Question): "If she wants it to be 2 metres long, 1 metre wide, and 30cm deep, how much soil does she need to buy? One bag of soil fills 0.5 cubic metres. How many bags?"
Act 3 (Solution & Extension): Students solve, compare strategies, then extend: "If soil costs $8 per bag, what's the total cost? Can she afford it with $100?"
Keeping It Real
Don't force problems. "A train leaves Melbourne at 3pm travelling at 80km/h..." feels artificial. Instead, use genuine contexts: "The school needs to order 240 pencils for the year. Pencils come in boxes of 12. How many boxes do we order? If each box costs $4.80, what's the invoice?"
