"What does this have to do with real life?" is a question that plagues mathematics teachers across America, as students are confronted with abstract topics in their high school mathematics courses. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics emphasizes the importance of making real world connections in teaching mathematics so that learning new content is meaningful to students. And in meeting NCTM national standards, this invaluable book provides many insights into the many connections between mathematics applications and the real world. Nearly 50 math concepts are presented with multiple examples of how each is applied in everyday environments, such as the workplace, nature, science, sports, and even parking. From logarithms to matrices to complex numbers, concepts are discussed for a variety of mathematics courses, including: BL algebra BL geometry BL trigonometry BL analysis BL probability BL statistics BL calculus