Math just got a little more interesting. A popular trend going around schools is downloading games on a graphing calculator.

Maddi Kim, a freshman at GBHS, has a graphing calculator, but doesn’t have any games installed on it.

“Games on calculators would be a fun way to pass the time,” said Kim.

It is a very easy process to download these games onto calculators. Students simply use websites to download them to their computer and then finally onto the calculator. 

Geometry Dash, Snake and Pacman are just some of the games students download. And most of these games cost nothing. 

“My friend plays Tetris on her calculator. It’s really fun,” said Kim. 

Some feel like these calculators are very distracting and they should be banned. 

“These games are just as distracting as phones,” said Sydney Howes, a sophomore at Granite Bay High School. 

But others find them as a fun way to waste time in class without the teacher noticing too much. 

“I play Snake on my friend’s calculator a lot and it’s a good way to waste time,” said Kira Allen, a sophomore at GBHS.  

“In my AP stats class, we do use TI-84 graphing calculators but I rarely notice the games,” said Mrs Kunst, a math teacher at GBHS

Although not everybody has chosen to download these games onto their calculators, many math classes are required to have the kind of calculator that is capable of getting these games. But, other math classes do not use graphing calculators. 

“In my 1M1 and IM2 class, we use the online free calculator, Desmos, so I never see the graphing calculators in my students hands,” Kunst said. 

This trend has been around for a while, but it is not a big concern to teachers.

“Hopefully class is engaging enough so the students don’t feel like they need to (play on) games,” Kunst said.