Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind Or Breaking a Nail

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Penguin, 2007 - Education - 297 pages
Read Danica McKellar's posts on the Penguin Blog

From a well-known actress and math genius--a groundbreaking guide to mathematics for middle school girls, their parents, and educators

As the math education crisis in this country continues to make headlines, research continues to prove that it is in middle school when math scores begin to drop--especially for girls--in large part due to the relentless social conditioning that tells girls they "can't do" math, and that math is "uncool." Young girls today need strong female role models to embrace the idea that it's okay to be smart--in fact, it's sexy to be smart!

It's Danica McKellar's mission to be this role model, and demonstrate on a large scale that math doesn't suck. In this fun and accessible guide, McKellar--dubbed a "math superstar" by The New York Times--gives girls and their parents the tools they need to master the math concepts that confuse middle-schoolers most, including fractions, percentages, pre-algebra, and more. The book features hip, real-world examples, step-by-step instruction, and engaging stories of Danica's own childhood struggles in math (and stardom). In addition, borrowing from the style of today's teen magazines, it even includes a Math Horoscope section, Math Personality Quizzes, and Real-Life Testimonials--ultimately revealing why math is easier and cooler than readers think.
 

Contents

FACTORS AND MULTIPLES DONT SUCK
1
You Can Never Have Too Many Shoes
26
Are You a Mathophobe? ON THE COVER
32
FRACTIONS DONT SUCK
38
How Many Iced Lattes Can These Actors Drink?
51
When to Seriously Stop Raiding the Refrigerator
61
Is Your Sister Trying to Cheat You out of Your Fair
74
How Much Do You and Your Best Friend Have
85
Sale of the Century
163
A Choreographed Performance
176
WORD PROBLEMS DONT SUCK
185
Does She Ever Get Off the Phone?
194
The Perks of a Southern Drawl
202
Filmmaker Extraordinaire
211
Are You Drinking Enough Water?
227
Whats Your Learning Style?
235

Choosing the Perfect Necklace
95
Do You Have Trouble Focusing or Are You
110
Why Calculators Would Make Terrible Boyfriends
136
How to Entertain Yourself While Babysitting
150
Whats Your Math Horoscope? ON THE COVER
157
EVEN ALGEBRA DOESNT SUCK
241
Romeo and Juliet
257
The Smart Girls Resource Guide
281
Index
295
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About the author (2007)

Best known for her roles on The Wonder Years and The West Wing, Danica McKellar is also an internationally recognized mathematician and advocate for math education. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA with a degree in Mathematics, Danica has been honored in Britain's esteemed Journal of Physics and The New York Times for her work in mathematics, most notably for her role as co-author of a groundbreaking mathematical physics theorem, which bears her name (The Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem.) Her passion for promoting girls' math education began in 2000, when she was invited to speak before Congress on the importance of women in math and science. Since then, Danica has made it a priority to find time in her busy acting schedule to promote math education, often appearing around the country as a speaker at national mathematics conferences.

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