What Is Mathematical Models with Applications?
Mathematical Models with Applications (MMA) is a Texas high school math course designed to show students how math works in the real world. It is aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and covers topics from personal finance and banking to geometry, trigonometry, probability, and statistics.
Personal Finance and Banking Topics
A large portion of MMA focuses on financial literacy. Students learn to use rates and linear functions to solve problems in personal budgeting, compensation, and deductions. The course also covers personal taxes, banking options including checking accounts and overdraft protection, and how to analyze credit options in retail purchasing.
- Budgeting with linear functions and rates
- Personal income taxes and deductions
- Checking accounts, debit cards, and online banking fees
- Loan amortization tables and financed purchases
- Home financing: buying vs. renting
- Automobile financing: buying vs. leasing
- Insurance coverage options and rates
- Investment options: stocks, bonds, annuities, CDs, and retirement plans
- Simple and compound interest savings options
Mathematical Models: Functions and Physical Laws
Students explore how math describes the physical world. This includes proportionality and inverse variation applied to physical laws such as Hooke's Law, Newton's Second Law of Motion, and Boyle's Law. Exponential models are used to study growth and decay, including radioactive decay, and quadratic functions are applied to model motion.
Geometry and Measurement Applications
The geometry unit connects math to architecture, art, and real-world measurement. Students use similarity, geometric transformations, symmetry, and perspective drawings to describe mathematical patterns. Key skills include applying the Pythagorean Theorem and special right-triangle relationships, using trigonometric ratios to find distances and angle measures, and working with scale factors to analyze changes in surface area and volume.
- Pythagorean Theorem and special right triangles
- Trigonometric ratios and distances
- Periodic motion modeled with trigonometric functions
- Scale factors and proportional changes in 2D and 3D objects
- Geometric transformations in art, music, and photography
Probability and Statistics
The probability and statistics unit teaches students to count outcomes using combinations, permutations, and the Fundamental Counting Principle. Students compare theoretical and empirical probability, use experiments to test theoretical models like binomial and geometric distributions, and interpret data from a wide variety of graphs including histograms, scatterplots, box-and-whisker plots, and dot plots.
- Combinations, permutations, and the Fundamental Counting Principle
- Theoretical vs. empirical probability
- Binomial and geometric probability models
- Measures of central tendency: mean, median, and mode
- Variability: range, IQR, and standard deviation
- Normal distributions and inferences
- Surveys, experiments, and observational studies
- Sample data and population estimates
- Regression models: linear and exponential
- Evaluating marketing claims using statistics
How StudyPug Supports MMA Students in Texas
StudyPug provides video lessons and practice problems for every topic covered in Mathematical Models with Applications. All content is aligned to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Students can find their topic, watch a short video lesson, and then practice with problems that include step-by-step solutions. Whether a student needs help with loan amortization, trigonometry, or reading a scatterplot, StudyPug has a lesson ready to watch anytime.