What If Math is a reinvention of our mathematics curriculum. Today’s K–12 curriculum was defined in the year 1202 by Leonardo of Pisa to give merchants and traders a better system for doing their math. However, today computers do the algorithms for us, and business is no longer primarily about solving equations. Rather, business involves the use of spreadsheets and functional thinking.
What If Math is built entirely on the use of spreadsheets. It is designed to enable students to learn math on a functional foundation and to learn to use spreadsheets and functional thinking, demanded by 21st century business.
The platform’s Labs are single-concept, spreadsheet-based lessons that use functions and functional thinking to treat math as an experimental science. Designed to take a class period, the lessons are open-ended, and nearly all end with What if questions that students can explore in greater depth and breadth. For example: Fibonacci sequence, the nickname given the medieval mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, is connected in most of our minds with the Fibonacci sequence. Spreadsheets are excellent tools for creating such sequences. Students can change variables and see what happens, giving them a way to investigate mathematical ideas for themselves.
What If Explorations are problem-solving projects based on what Einstein called “proper questions.” Divided into a series of inquiries, they involve students in collaborative real-world activities that use functional thinking, spreadsheets, data science, and computer science. They are designed and built by teachers to create a shared library for students. For example: Lemonade Stand has been a business simulation developed in many different versions. However, this is the first time it has been created as a spreadsheet simulation.
Teachers can use free spreadsheet tools such as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel alongside the What If approach. For older students, especially those preparing for further education or employment, What If Math provides a different way to connect classroom mathematics with digital skills.