The curriculum is designed to expose students to the excitement and pleasures
of mathematical endeavor and to encourage them to approach mathematical problems
with confidence. Students continue to develop their understanding of mathematical
concepts and principles: they apply these concepts to problem-solving situations;
they learn to reason clearly and communicate effectively; and they practice
the use of estimation techniques to check the reasonableness of results.
Goals and Objectives
Number and Operations
Demonstrates mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
of fractions and mixed numbers
Demonstrates mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
of decimals
Converts easily between fractions, decimals, and percents (excluding the
conversion of repeating decimals to fractions)
Performs all operations with positive and negative integers
Multiplies and divides numbers with like bases by adding and subtracting
exponents and knows that any numbers to the power 0 equal 1
Extends understanding of rates, ratios, and proportions
Expands use of percents to solve problems such as:
6 is what percent of?
6 is 50% of what number?
How much is 50% of 12?
Uses and practices the use of percents to calculate interest, tips, tax,
and discounts
Understands and uses prime factorization and uses and understands the concepts
of LCM and GCF
Becomes familiar with the concept of square and cube roots
Learns the concept of absolute value
Measurement
Expands knowledge of metric and customary units
Solidifies understanding of and is able to convert between different metric
units
Solidifies understanding of and is able to convert between different standard
units
Geometry and Spatial Sense
Solidifies skills in computing the areas of triangles, parallelograms,
rectangles, and trapezoids
Finds the area of a circle
Calculates the volume of 3-dimensional figures, including cones, prisms,
pyramids, and cylinders
Understands and applies the concept of surface area to prisms and cylinders
Experiences and begins to understand and use the Pythagorean Theorem
Calculates lengths of sides of similar triangles
Performs constructions with a compass and straight-edge
Practices transformations of geometric figures
Patterns and Functions
Uses number patterns and shortcuts to solve problems more easily
Develops a knowledge of the use of functions and graphing in problem
solving
Reviews concepts of coordinate graphing
Understands patterns of numbers such as triangular, square, palindromic,
etc.
Data Analysis and Probability
Masters the concepts of mean, median, mode, and range, and extends
their use in interpreting data
Discusses the misleading use of statistics to "prove" something
which is not true
Uses statistics for making comparisons
Develops an understanding of experimental and theoretical probability
Learns to calculate independent probability
Interprets and analyzes data from graphs
Algebra
Understands variables and uses them to solve problems in all areas
of the curriculum
Translates English phrases into algebraic expressions
Evaluates simple algebraic expressions by substituting numerical
terms for variables and by using the order of operations
Begins to use formal methods for solving linear equations:
Adding or subtracting the same number to each side of an equation
Multiplying or dividing each side of the equation by the same number
