09/15/2026
I saw this today and laughed. 😂 But it also made me think, because “When am I ever going to use this?” is a completely fair question.
And my answer isn't, “Someday you're going to desperately need to remember how to expand a binomial.”
Most people won't.
But you probably will use the thinking behind it.
Take a 10 × 10 patio. You decide to extend it by 2 feet in both directions. The original patio is 100 square feet and the new one is 144.
Where did those extra 44 square feet come from?
Two 10 × 2 strips add 40 square feet, and the new 2 × 2 corner adds another 4.
And that's exactly what the formula in the picture is describing.
The algebra isn't really the math. It's the shorthand we invented to describe the math that's already happening.
Do you need this particular formula memorized to function as an adult? Probably not.
But recognizing patterns, understanding how quantities relate, and learning how to represent a complicated situation so you can work with it?
That's something we do all the time.
And I think we'd hear “When am I ever going to use this?” a lot less if we spent more time helping students see the math before asking them to memorize the shorthand.
🌱 Bright Tomorrow Math — Progress Over Perfection
