Don't just solve for x: letting kids explore real-world scenarios will keep them in maths class

In real life, ordering pizza for a group of people involves having a conversation about what people like, how much they can eat, how much they want to spend and whether pineapple really belongs on pizza.

But in the context of a traditional maths class, the concept of ordering a pizza typically becomes a problem like this:

If one pizza serves four children, how many pizzas do we need for a class of 28 children?

An alarming number of Australian students don't choose mathematics in the senior school years. Figures from 2017 – the most recent available – show only 9.4% of Australian students in years 11 and 12 were enrolled in extended mathematics. This is the lowest percentage in more than 20 years.