Where do I go with Algebra?

Career World, Oct, 2005 by Charles Piddock

THERE'S AN OLD JOKE THAT GOES LIKE THIS: "There are three types of algebra students--those who can count and those who can't." Get it? Okay, algebra jokes aren't usually at the top of the laugh meter. The point is, some students are good at algebra and some aren't. Some look forward to algebra class; others would rather bungee jump off the rim of the Grand Canyon than solve a quadratic equation.

For students who like algebra, there are many career choices where knowledge of algebra is essential--including just about all branches of science and technology: computer science, biology, physics, anthropology, and all of the engineering professions. Other professions involving algebra include economist, banker, architect, actuary, stockbroker, cartographer, and photographer. Just about any profession that requires you to manipulate numbers and find unknown quantities might be a good fit for you if you get a kick out of solving for x.

But what if you just aren't a fan of algebra and aren't interested in any of those careers? It still pays for you to take algebra and work hard to succeed at it. "Students may feel that they will never work in a field that requires knowledge of algebra," says Texas math teacher Tony Casamento. "But they shouldn't be so sure. We live in an exciting, fast-changing world. [Many] careers will be somehow related to technology, which means being related to algebra."

Casamento points to a range of examples: Loan officers determine debt/income ratios. Carpenters use known dimensions to calculate unknown dimensions. A mechanic can analyze gas mileage as a function of fuel mixture. Salespeople study graphs and look for patterns using algebra. "Algebra is really not about x's and y's," he notes. "It is about using a logical thought process to solve problems. Just because it isn't officially called algebra, doesn't mean it's not algebra."

"[The emphasis on algebra is] not just about math," says Alec Ostrom, a California school official. "Algebra teaches you how to think and how to get unstuck. Adult life will bring complex problems, and the people who can't get unstuck get lost."

Career World interviewed four people in vastly different careers to find out how they use algebra in their work.

x = DOGSLED RACER

Lynda Plettner is a professional dog musher and kennel operator who lives 50 miles north of Anchorage. She has 100 sled dogs of her own and takes care of another 200 for other racers.

"The fun part of my job is working and racing my dogs," Plettner tells Career World.

The big sled dog race is the Iditarod, held each year in March between Anchorage and Nome. Teams must cover roughly 1,100 miles over two mountain ranges, across frozen waterways, and through the pack ice of Norton Sound in temperatures that are often below zero.

"My team will only be as good as the food they eat," Plettner explains. "During serious training periods, and in a race, my dogs will consume a number of calories each day. Approximately one month before the Iditarod, I have to calculate how much dog food and supplies to send to each of the 26 checkpoints. I know that a resting adult dog will eat a total of 1,500 calories on a 60-degree day. But what I need to find out is how much each dog needs to eat per hour on a day when he's pulling a sled during a 24-hour period." Taking into account temperature and number of hours each dog runs, Plettner uses algebraic formulas to calculate that each dog must be fed 857.08 calories in each of the 14 hours he is awake on each day that he's racing, at an average temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can see how technical the planning and preparations are for the Iditarod. A strong mathematical support system is absolutely necessary to be competitive. Plettner can't just get on her sled and say, "Take me to Nome!"

y(art/technology) = COMPUTER GRAPHICS ARTIST

Kevin Baille is a computer graphics artist and supervisor in San Francisco. He works for The Orphanage, a company that produces special effects for movies, video games, and commercials. If you've seen Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Day After Tomorrow, or Hellboy, you've seen Kevin's work up close and personal.

"The work that I do requires a whole bunch of math skills, including algebra," Baille told Career World. "In fact, if I didn't know algebra well, I could not be a computer graphics artist at all." When Baille's team was putting together the pod racing scene in Star Wars Episode I, they worked from an actual model of a pod that had been built in the model shop. They translated the measurements of the model pod into virtual space in the computer. In order to animate the pods for the movie, Baille also calculated how angles might affect what was going on in back of a moving pod as it raced across the screen.

"If we didn't use math to translate how an object moves through space, there's no way the animators would have been able to produce realistic objects in the movie," Baille notes. "So you see that algebra and geometry aren't just exercises in a classroom. They are used in real life to create real things--in this case, an entertaining and realistic movie scene produced almost completely in virtual space."