Schedule
The first day of class (January 4 Wednesday),
I'll discuss the administrative aspects of the course
and give a brief introduction to the basic ideas of Algebra.
If you miss this day, then you shouldn't suffer too much for it,
but you'll want to get the administrative information from me.
The next day (January 6 Friday), the class will begin in earnest.
The material for the first full week
is to review arithmetic that you should already understand;
this is mostly Sections 1.3–1.5 and 1.7 of the textbook
(although some of it is hidden away in Sections 5.4 and 5.6).
Note that Section 1.2 is not on the syllabus,
although you should already know that material too.
Next, I'll discuss arithmetic identities,
which is mostly in Section 1.6
(although some of it is in Sections 5.2 and 5.4);
I'll apply these to the rules of arithmetic
in Sections 1.4&1.5, 1.7, and 5.4.
Then I'll build on these to introduce algebraic expressions;
these are covered in Section 1.8 of the textbook,
and most of Chapter 5 is also about that (but I'll skip Section 5.5 for now).
I'll also discuss
some material from Section 2.4 involving evaluation of expressions
and some material from Sections 2.5 and 3.1&3.2
that relates to linear expressions.
After that, we'll learn to solve and apply linear equations,
which is most of what Chapter 2 (except for Sections 2.4 and 2.8) is about.
We'll also cover linear inequalities (Sections 2.8 and 8.6)
and some absolute-value equations and inequalities (Section 8.7).
Next, I'll talk about equations in more than one variable,
which is covered in Section 2.4 and most of Chapter 3 (except for Section 3.7);
we'll approach most of this through graphing,
and we'll also graph linear inequalities in two variables (Section 3.7).
Finally, we'll discuss systems of linear equations,
which is the topic of Chapter 4
(except for Section 4.6, which we won't cover).
If there's time, we'll also do Section 5.5,
which can serve as a sort of preparation
for Intermediate Algebra.
In total, we'll cover Chapters 1–5 from the textbook
(except skipping Sections 1.2 and 4.6),
as well as Sections 8.6&8.7.
It's a lot of material for 10 weeks, so the class has to move pretty fast;
please talk to me early if you need help!
Here is a more detailed list of topics and sections from the textbook.
The size of this list will not match our time in the course;
where I follow the book's order more closely, the list is more condensed.
- Introduction:
Section 1.1 (January 4 Wednesday): Success in mathematics.
- Arithmetic:
- Section 1.2 (January 4 Wednesday): Review;
- Section 1.3 (January 6 Friday):
The number systems and the real number line;
- Sections 1.4&1.5 (January 9 Monday):
Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing integers and fractions;
- Sections 1.7 and 5.4 (January 11 Wednesday):
Exponents (evaluating exponential expressions);
- Section 5.6 (January 13 Friday): Scientific notation;
- Section 1.6 (January 13 Friday): Units;
- (No school: January 15 Monday);
- Section 1.6 (January 18 Wednesday): Properties of real numbers;
- Section 1.7 (January 18 Wednesday): The order of operations.
- Algebraic expressions:
- Section 1.8 (January 20 Friday):
Algebraic expressions (evaluating);
- Section 5.1 (January 20 Friday): Polynomials (evaluating);
- Section 2.4 (January 20 Friday): Evaluating formulas;
- Section 1.8 (January 23 Monday):
Algebraic expressions (terms and coefficients);
- Section 5.1 (January 23 Monday): Adding polynomials;
- Section 1.8 (January 25 Wednesday):
Algebraic expressions (simplifying);
- Section 5.1 (January 25 Wednesday): Subtracting polynomials;
- Sections 5.2 and 5.4 (January 27 Friday):
Multiplying and dividing monomials;
- Section 5.3 (January 30 Monday): Multiplying polynomials;
- Section 2.5 (February 3 Friday):
Problem solving (translating phrases to expressions);
- Sections 1.4&1.5 (February 3 Friday):
Arithmetic (word problems);
- Sections 5.1–5.3 (February 3 Friday):
Algebraic expressions (word problems).
- (Exam 1: February 8 Wednesday).
- Equations and inequalities:
- Section 2.1 (February 10 Friday):
Linear equations (determining solutions);
- Sections 2.8 and 8.6 (February 13 Monday):
Linear inequalities (graphing and solution sets);
- Sections 2.1&2.2 (February 13 Monday):
Solving straightforward linear equations (no word problems);
- Section 2.3 (February 15 Wednesday):
Tricks for linear equations (no word problems);
- Section 2.8 (February 17 Friday):
Solving linear inequalities in one variable (no word problems);
- Section 8.6 (February 17 Friday):
Compound inequalities (compact only);
- Sections 2.1–2.3 (February 20 Monday):
Solving linear equations (word problems);
- Section 2.5 (February 20 Monday): Word problems: direct translation;
- Sections 2.8, 8.6 (February 22 Wednesday):
Solving linear inequalities in one variable (word problems);
- Sections 2.6&2.7 (February 24 Friday):
Word problems: special cases.
- Equations in two variables:
- Section 2.4 (February 27 Monday): Solving formulas for a variable;
- Section 3.1 (February 29 Wednesday): Equations in two variables;
- Section 3.2 (February 29 Wednesday):
Graphing equations in two variables (plotting points);
- Section 3.2 (March 2 Friday):
Graphing equations in two variables (intercepts);
- Section 3.4 (March 2 Friday): Slope–intercept form of a line;
- Section 3.3 (March 5 Monday): Slope;
- Section 3.5 (March 5 Monday): Point–slope forms of a line.
- Systems of equations:
- Sections 4.1–4.3 (March 7 Wednesday):
Solving systems of linear equations (no word problems).
- (Exam 2: March 12 Monday).
The last day to drop the course with a full refund is January 11 Wednesday;
the last day to drop at all is February 14 Tuesday.
By February 10 Friday, your midterm grade estimates
should be available
on
WebAdvisor;
your final grades should be available by March 19 Monday.
Go back to the course homepage.
This web page was written between 2003 and 2012 by Toby Bartels,
last edited on 2012 March 7.
Toby reserves no legal rights to it.
The permanent URI of this web page
is
http://tobybartels.name/MATH-0950/2012WN/schedule/.
