"When are we going to need this?"

I was at a professional development day and one participant (who looked as though they had been teaching Mathematics for many years) kept asking "When are the students going to use this?". It reminded me of how often students have asked this question over the years.

In my first year of teaching, I wanted to be able to answer the question, everytime it was asked. Unfortunately when a student asks "Why do we need to know 2x + 3x?" It can be quite difficult to answer. It is like asking, why do we need to know that 1 + 1 = 2?

I have come to believe that we do not need to answer the question everytime it is asked. Sometimes, the answer will be "We need it for more difficult Mathematics later on, which has many applications to the real world". But sometimes, I now give the response below.

You probably won't remember this specific bit of Mathematics in 3 or 4 years time. What we're trying to do here is trying to get you to think mathematically. That is, working towards the "Working Mathematically" Outcomes in the NSW Syllabus.

Now, moreso than ever, we need our young people to be problem solvers when they leave school. The problems that they will need to solve will be different, but thinking logically and mathematically can be of great assistance.

Of course, I often still like to answer the question by giving a real life application - but it doesn't always satisfy students curiosity.