PUMAS (poo' • mas) -- is a collection of brief examples showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes can be used in interesting settings, including every day life.

The examples are written primarily by scientists, engineers, and other content experts having practical experience with the material. They are aimed mainly at classroom teachers, and are available to all interested parties via the PUMAS web site.

Our goal is to capture, for the benefit of pre-college education, the flavor of the vast experience that working scientists have with interesting and practical uses of math and science.

- Ralph Kahn
Pumas Editor and Founder

Featured PUMAS Example

How Thick is the Atmosphere? by Martin J. Ruzek
We've all seen pictures of the Earth and its atmosphere as a series of concentric circles, showing the troposphere, stratosphere, ionosphere, etc., often looking like a bullseye target with the solid Earth in the middle. But if we were to draw that picture to scale, what would it really look like?
(view this example)

View the Examples

There are currently 82 examples in the PUMAS Collection.
View the full listing, organized by Example title.

We are always looking for neat examples of Practical Uses of Math And Science.
Please contribute!