If students are going to develop reasoning and thinking skills, use their mathematical knowledge, and recognize the relevance of mathematics in their lives, they need to experience mathematics in meaningful ways. Only then will their mathematical skills be transferrable to all other parts of their lives. To promote such flexible mathematical thought, the author has her algebra students become mathematics consultants. In this article, the author describes an activity whose goal is to have students learn how to apply mathematical knowledge in different situations and use this knowledge to make inferences and draw conclusions. Specifically five problems--relating to gas mileage, the national debt, store sales, shipping costs, and fish population--require students to use functions to connect mathematics to the real world.