Why It's Good to Take Those Upper Level Math and Science Classes!

For those of you who thought in high school that you would "never use that math stuff anyway," here is the video for you.  One of my favorite personalities, Niel deGrasse Tyson, suggests that one good thing to come out of challenging yourself to learn difficult math and science would be the connections that happen in your brain.  These brain pathways help us to become better problem solvers. Unfortunately, most of us shy away from difficult things and never create these pathways.  He goes on to suggest that people who are science and math literate are the people who create new industry and are invaluable to companies. Basically, these are the people we need right now in the United States to sustain a bright future.  I showed this to my 7th graders before we started our astronomy unit and they really got a lot out of what he said. Anytime they get stuck on a math or science problem and have to really think hard to come up with the right answer they talk about the "pathways" they are creating!  Let me know what you think.