“What’s the point of algebra/trigonometry/fractions? I’m never going to use it.” My pat answer to this has always been two fold and brief in a big classroom situation. One, I give them one reason where that particular topic in maths is used in everyday life and secondly, I explain that it is training their thinking to be logical and this will help in their every day life decisions. Now, I would add a third reason - attitude.
I’m a firm believer that partaking in a sport will strengthen understanding of maths and it will increase the enjoyment of maths and I would go as far as saying that it works both ways. Like multiplication and addition, it is commutative. This article is going to focus on the links between sport and maths specifically the links around attitude.
Take bouldering, a category of climbing and in particular one of the three climbing disciplines that will be making its debut appearance in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. From the Tokyo Olympics page it is defined as: