Math News
It's the holiday season and time for thanksgiving. We are thankful for all good gifts in our lives, friends, family, and are sure to include our family here at St. Joseph's School. What a blessed place this is and how lucky we are to be here.
7th Grade Math News:
The seventh graders have completed their work with integer operations, simplifying numerical expressions using the order of operations, and plotting points on the coordinate plane. We also took a look at absolute value. We will deepen our understanding of this important concept during this year and also next year in algebra!
Moving on, we have begun the second chapter by studying the basic properties of numbers, including the commutative, associative, identity, and distributive properties. We are beginning to move a bit into algebra territory by generalizing these properties using variables. Also while working with variables, we will master the concept of "like terms" and the simplifying of variable expressions, building on the foundation we have laid down with the order of operations.
The bulk of our work this chapter, and some of the real basics of understanding of algebra will soon be conquered as well. I refer to solving simple linear equations and inequalities using inverse operations (which follow the INVERSE order of operations!). The equations we will solve will only have one solution, so we will name them, but the inequalities we will solve have an infinite number of solutions, so we will learn to graph them on the number line. This provides a pictorial representation of all the solutions.
8th Grade Math News:
The eighth graders have mastered the solving of all complex linear equations and inequalities! They know how and when to apply the distributive property, how to collect "like terms", how to get rid of variables on the right side of the equation, how to rid the equation of fractions in one fell swoop, and of course how to apply inverse operations! This is quite an achievement! They are to be congratulated!
Now, they are ready to take on the heart of algebra: graphing and writing linear equations. This will bring together so many elements of understanding! Included is the concept of slope, which rests solidly on a profound understanding of proportionality and rate of change between two variables.
Along the way, we will be discussing direct variation, slope-intercept form, and the characteristics of parallel and perpendicular lines and how those characteristics translate into both similarities and differences in the equations of their lines.
Excitement abounds!