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Numerical simulations and optimisation of mathematical models are there workhorse of many scientific and engineering disciplines. I would bring up examples with
by blackbear_ 2y ago
Numerical simulations and optimisation of mathematical models are there workhorse of many scientific and engineering disciplines. I would bring up examples with very nice visuals like computational fluid dynamics, molecular dynamics, and the like.
- JohnFen 2y agoMaybe, but I suspect that wouldn't really address what the kids want to know. It reminds me of being in school and when some students in mid-level math classes would ask "why do I need to know this", the answers were often similar to what you propose -- but those were so far away from where the students were at that almost everyone would react along the lines of "well, I'll never be doing that sort of stuff, so I guess I don't really need to know math".
- prennert 2y agoI totally agree with this. From an academic perspective this makes total sense. But they will keep asking why "why would I want to do this?" until they see a real-life impact.
- prennert 2y agoThank you so much for your suggestion. I tried just yesterday to explain to a kid how software can model and optimise something they were interested in. But I lost them really fast. But maybe I should be looking into their syllabus more so I can link this up with some of their math problems they might be solving.
- blackbear_ 2y agoI would really push on the visual aspect of it, perhaps by showing some videos on YouTube or some cool interactive demo. That would have definitely captured my attention, as a kid :)