Students discover the math involved in everyday living as they take a character from high school graduation to retirement, advising on important health, education, career, and financial decisions. Students apply math skills, create representational models, and develop critical thinking, strategic planning, and time management skills as they work to ensure their character’s happiness and well-being in this new SUNBURST simulation.

Students select a character to guide through the ups and down of life. Working as an advisor, your students help the characters manage their resources to the fullest to achieve their personal goals.

Students provide a rationale for their advice, and use math to support the decision-making process, as they:

• Interpret data and trends on food, housing, utilities, and clothing costs

• Create realistic budgets

• Read actuarial charts to make insurance decisions

• Use percentages to make housing choices

• Read amortization schedules to determine mortgage payments

• Understand debt and credit cards

• Calculate interest for a long term savings plan

• Create representational models to depict life plans

Students help their character make decisions, live with the consequences, and take intermediate steps to ameliorate undesired outcomes. As in "real life," students will deal with unexpected events-an untimely snowstorm, a parking lot accident, unexpected fame, or having triplets when the doctor said twins! In My Mathematical Life, your students can apply math skills and concepts in age-appropriate social scenarios that show the lives of a variety of people. This program also helps develop long-term planning, critical-thinking, and decision-making skills with opportunities to make social and personal decisions using math and reasoning.