hw #4-6 & Unit Review

Unit 4 is ALMOST DONE; 8th Grade "A" day test is scheduled for Monday, Jan 9th.
Thursday, Jan 4th will be a major review day... please don't miss that class... check your schedule and make sure you don't have a doctor appt that day... you will be seeing your math doctor... ME!!

Ask questions over the break on the blog... suggest a problem or two that you would like to see on an academy video... I feel my voice coming back already... Fa la la!!

No excuses! Be ready!

Quiz grades have been posted in the online gradebook... do you want access?  Send me your email by email (bruce.chamberlain@msdk12.net), do NOT post your email on the blog... I will be setting up access over the break for those of you that already gave me your email... 

hw #4-5 Writing a Function Rule using the RELATE-DEFINE-WRITE technique

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD... In my infinite wisdom (is that negative or positive infinity?), I am postponing the Unit 4 Test until after the winter break. You will still have a quiz on Wednesday... you will be required to do the following:

1) Answer questions such as the Chapter Review pg 284 #4-12
2) For section 4-4, I expect you to be able to graph linear and nonlinear functions using a table of values, given an equation such as:
a)  y = -x+2
b)  f(x) = x^2 - 3
c)  y = f(x) = -x^2 + 4
d)  y = | x + 2 |
e)  y = | x | + 2

(Note that abs val equations in d & e will generate different graphs)

I will not test you on continuous vs. discrete or anything else for that matter... JUST what I listed above.  RELATE-DEFINE-WRITE will NOT be on this quiz!

This is called an opportunity... the payback is that you will have work to do over break... especially (but not limited to) those of you who still need to "remedy" Unit 3 Inequalities.

hw #4-4 Graphing a Function Rule (and Review 4-1 thru 4-4)

hw#4-4: Due Monday Dec 19th
pg 252  #1-11 All
pg 282-283 #6-12 Even
pg 257 #9-14 All

It would be really really NICE if you guys spread the word to each other...
UPDATE:  UNIT TEST on section 4-1 thru 4-5 (OMIT 4-6 & 4-7) Wednesday, Dec 21st

You should have a clear understanding of the concrete tube (pg 251#19) and the level of detail that I expect you to provide. Any other questions??

This has been ONE CRAZY UNIT so far... how are you doing? You can ask questions on this post for ANYTHING from 4-1 thru 4-4... chat at'cha later!... USE THE GRAPHING CALCULATOR to check your work... Mr. C.

hw #4-3 Nonlinear Functions

hw#4-3: Due Weds Dec 14
pg 249-251
#1-25 Odd

Please do not OVERCOMPLICATE the thinking on the independent vs. dependent variable questions.

In a classic ordered pair of (x,y) x is the INPUT (a.k.a the INDEPENDENT variable) and y is the OUTPUT (a.k.a. the DEPENDENT variable). The value assigned to y DEPENDS upon the value input for x. Allow yourself to struggle with the questions a bit and ask questions on the blog.

Unit 3 Test "Recovery"

Do you have questions on the test corrections?... ask them here... you will get a second chance on Thursday to STRUT YOUR STUFF... make the most of it.

hw #4-2 Tables and Graphs and Equations, OH MY!

hw #4-1 Graphing Inferno

Unit 3 Test Review - Last Chance

btw... I plan to be in room 220 at 7am on Weds... BYOD (Bring your own doughnut)

hw #3-8 Unions, Intersections, and even Disjointedness!

hw#3-8 Due Thurs Dec 1st

pg 218-219 #10-21 ALL
                   #23-29 Odd
pg 220 #49-63 ALL

You should be looking at pg 223-226 #1-61 ALL in preparation for the UNIT 3 TEST, which is scheduled for next Wednesday.

You do not have to DO #1-61 All, but you should be doing some of them and looking at all of them.

hw #3-7 AbsVal Eqs and Ineqs - SOLVE FOR THE BLOB!

New example problems have been posted to MathChamber Academy!! Check it out!!
FYI, the MathChamber Academy needs a logo, so enter the LOGO CONTEST!!
You could win a $25 Gift Certificate or maybe even a NEW CAR!!
hw#3-7 Due
    Mon Nov 28 (B)
   Tues Nov 29 (A)

"Regular" homework
Just do EVERY OTHER odd problem, BONUS homework do EVERY odd problem
pg 210-11 #1-25 ODD
 
pg 211 #33-59 ODD
pg 213 #83-97 ODD

hw #3-6 Compound Inequalities

... we will discuss INTERVAL NOTATION in class on Tuesday, but please read about it in section 3-6 and see if you have any questions... we need to GETSK GOIN'!!

hw #3-5 Sets, Sets, and more Sets...

... and don't forget the quiz on Friday!!

hw #3-4 Multi-Step Inequalities

Unit 2 - The "After" Party Post

There will be a 20-minute "grade-booster" opportunity in class on Monday to "redeem" yourself... no penalty for wrong answers but extra credit for a good performance. OK by you?...

... and please spread the word to ALL of your alge-buddies! 

If you're not asking questions here now, you really have to question yourself!!

hw #3-3 Good Ol' Cousin POI

There will be a 20-minute "grade-booster" opportunity in class on Monday to "redeem" yourself... no penalty for wrong answers but extra credit for a good performance. OK by you?...

... and please spread the word to ALL of your alge-buddies!

hw #3-3
Read Section 3-3
pg 181 #1-6 All, #11,13,17,21,25,29,31,35,39,43,49

hw #3-1 & #3-2

Add 2 points to your Unit 2 Test Score...

,,, even if you scored a 100!!

DEADLINE for Period 5: Tuesday 7:00AM!

Some of you have complained about the complexity of our text book's description (section 3-2) of the POI's for Addition and Subtraction. So, here is an opportunity to KEEP THINGS SIMPLE AND GET 2 BONUS POINTS added to your test score. 

Simply visit this link A POI Lesson from Mr. C. and THEN send me an email (from your account or your parents) telling me
  1) if this lesson helped you and 
  2) if and how MathChamber.com in general has helped you this year.  

If you send the email from your personal account, please cc: your parents... that will give us something to talk about at conferences.  That's all there is to it! Spread the word to your friends... two points for EVERYONE!


hw #3-1
Read Section 3-1
pg 167-169 #1-7 All, #11,15,18,19,23,27,35,39

hw #3-2
Read Section 3-2
pg 174-75 #1-8 All, #9,13,21,31,37,43,45,49,57,61

Unit 2 Review

Halloween Weekend Post
POWER OUTAGE UPDATE!!

Ask questions now, or Tues Wednesday Thursday will be a very scary day!

I will be available Mon Tuesday Wednesday after school for extra help... I may also be available Weds morning at 7am... but not sure about that right now.

Unit 2 Review - Solving Equations AND...

Dear Period 5 Class... THE RUMOR IS CONFIRMED!!  I am postponing tomorrow's test until Tuesday... I still expect you to be doing the review problems... be ready for an INTENSIVE review session tomorrow... this is a GIFT... make full use of it.  Oh, and spread the good news to your non-blogging friends. Thanks... Mr. C.
 
... Rates, Ratios, Proportions& Percent Problems (Oh My!)

ask all question here, INCLUDING section #2-5 Literal Equations...

pg 152-157 Chapter Review and Chapter Test\
#1-5 All & REVIEW VOCAB, YOU SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH ALL!!
Suggested HW #7-63 Odd
Minimum HW #7-63 every 4th  from #7, i.e. 7,11,15,etc.
You should look at every problem and feel comfortable with a first step, including the Chapter Test on pg 157.
Uncomfortable? Ask questions in class or on the blog... GOOD LUCK!!

hw #2-10 Percent of Change

hw #2-8 & 2-9 Similar Figures & PURRRRR-cents

This is 6th grade math, folks... let's git 'er done!

COMBINED ASSIGNMENT
hw#2-8: Due 
     Wed Oct 19 (B)
     Thurs Oct 20 (A)
pg 133-35 #1,2,11,17,23

hw#2-9: Due 
     Wed Oct 19 (B)
     Thurs Oct 20 (A)
pg 141-42 #11,17,23,29,37,49

hw #2-7 We Gotsk a New Gift from the Math Gods...

... the CROSS-PRODUCT PROPERTY!!!

hw#2-7: Due
     Tues Oct 18 (B)
pg 127-28 #1-8 All, #9-39 Mult of 3

Please read section 2-7 in the book carefully, particularly the discussion of "means and extremes" at the end of Problem 1 that we briefly discussed toward the end of class. 

In a technical sense, when you have a proportion a/b = c/d (read this as a over b equals c over d), a and d are considered to be the "extremes" (they are "on the ends") and b and c are considered to be the "means" (they are "in the middle").

SO, a fancy way of stating the CROSS-PRODUCT PROPERTY is to say that:

"The product of the means is equal to the product of the extremes"

... you're getting to be SOOOO SMART... I'm SOOOOO PROUD!!!!
-Mr. C 

hw #2-6 Which ONE will you use??

hw #2-3 and 2-4 Variables, Equations, Solutions, and MORE Variables!!??

Important Notice for Your Parent/Guardians

The letter below was emailed to many of your parent/guardians. Some did not have an email address, some of you gave me incorrect email addresses and some parent/guardians have not responded to me.

It is YOUR JOB as students to make your parent/guardian aware of this opportunity. If you are reading this note, please let your folks know. ALSO, please call/text everyone you know in class so that they can check this note as well.

Thank you!... Mr. C.
======================================= 
Dear Parents of Algebra 1 Honors Students,

 

Your children received their results back this morning from their Unit 1 "Fundamentals of Algebra" test. There were some good scores but I have the sense that no one was satisfied with their grade/performance. I explained to your children that I have seen this before... I have had many very successful honors math students struggle "out of the gate."  I have confidence that they can all do well, however it will take a major commitment of time and effort on their part. I assured them that even the lowest scorers on this test (oops, the F's were in a "misery loves company" scenario) can earn their way back to the "A" range.

 

I let the students know that this was NOT their final grade for this assessment. It is more important to me that your child:

1) Learns from this experience

2) Understands how to "bounce back"

3) Masters the content/material

4) Learns how to learn!

 

Welcome to their "miserable math" weekend. They understand that in addition to their current homework they are to supply me with a complete set of test corrections for each problem that they got wrong.  They need to take separate blank sheets of notebook paper and redo each incorrect problem step-by-step. Additionally, they need to provide me with a brief explanation of what they did wrong or how they misinterpreted the problem. I have found this "meta-cognitive" practice (thinking about their thinking) to be very useful in learning from mistakes.

 

I would like to invite you to an informal parent meeting on this Monday, Oct 10th from 6:45am - 7:30am in my classroom (220) at FMS.  I had wanted to do this a couple of weeks ago, but time got away from me. This meeting will be focused on the overall Algebra 1 Honors experience rather than a rehash of the Unit 1 Test results. I feel that you should have a sense of the challenge and workload that are before your children. I also want you to be fully aware of the tools, beyond classroom instruction, that are available to your students.

 

Please RSVP by replying to this note, whether or not you will attend on Monday morning. If you would like to set up an individual conference that's fine, but I would still appreciate if you could come to this "class overview" meeting.

 

Sincerely,

Mr. Chamberlain

Unit 1 Test Correction Help

hw #2-2 Multi-step Equations

hw #2-1 What's YOUR target??

hw #2-1
pg 85 #5-25 Odd

I want to see EVERY STEP folks! Just like we did in class.

JUST DO IT!

Unit 1 Review - ARE U READY FOR THE TEST

When you ask a question, please be sure to:
a) identify the page number
b) identify problem number
c) describe any attempts/steps you have tried in an attempt to solve the problem

hw #1-9 Tables and Graphs and Equations, OH MY!!

The Data Presentation Project: Due Thursday, Oct. 6th
Deliverables: One data table, three (3) graphs and a paragraph explaining the results to your "audience." The graphs need not have ALL three data columns on each graph, for example, you can have a histogram that simply charts the daily high temperatures in San Francisco. One of your graphs should be an x-y graph that charts two variables.

Option 1: Make a table of the Daily High Temperatures for two (2) North American cities for a selected 90-day period. Then choose from three (3) different data displays to present your data. Write a paragraph to explain your findings. Your audience is vacationers. Your data "columns" will be DATE (Day) i.e. April 1, 2011, TEMPERATURE-1 (for the 1st city), and TEMPERATURE-2 (for the 2nd city).

Option 2: Make a table for Major League Baseball teams with Won-Lost percentage, Team Batting Average and Team E.R.A. as your data columns. Create three graphs to present the data in the table. Write a paragraph to explain your findings. Your audience is sports fans.
(You may choose any sport that has a team won-lost percentage, and two statistical categories, preferable one offensive and one defensive).

Option 3: If you would like to MYOP (make your own project) you will need to propose a topic AND tell me what the 3 data columns in your table will be.

hw #1-7a & #1-7b

Distribution, the AREA MODEL, and Combining Like Terms

fyi... if there are NO QUESTIONS posted to the blog, I will not be a happy camper if you need help with the homework on Tuesday!

STAY DRY THIS WEEKEND! 

hw #1-4 ARE YOU READY FOR THE QUIZ??

hw #1-4 Due Monday Sept 20
pg 29 #1-19 ALL
pg 44 #66-78 ALL

Monday's Quiz will cover sections 1-1 thru 1-6; the emphasis in 1-5 and 1-6 will be on integers as opposed to decimals and fractions.

hw #1-2 & 1-3 LET'S GET REAL... numbers, that is :)

Questions?  Post 'em here.

hw #1-1

Post any questions here!  Feel free to answer questions posted by your friends & classmates...