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Monday, January 7, 2013

Midterm Study Guide

Things to use to study for your midterms (remember, we'll be reviewing in class too): 
- Previous blog posts
- Previous tests 
- The study guides @ the end of the chapter in your book
- Self-check quizzes, Personal Tutor videos, and Extra Examples on Glencoe's website (in your favorites)


What we'll be covering:
Chapters 1 - 4 (stopping halfway through chapter 4; we will only cover up through dividing decimals by a whole number)

Concepts you should know:

Chp. 1

Divisibility Rules: Be able to identify what a number is divisible by and whether it's even or odd
Prime Numbers: Identify prime & composite number (remember, prime means the number is only divisible by 1 and itself
Prime Factorization: Be able to find the prime factorization of a number. Remember, that's when we break down a number into the smaller numbers it's divisible by until we have all prime numbers at the bottom of our factor tree
Powers & Exponents: Be able to write a product using an exponent and vice versa (for example: 5 x 5 x 5 = 53) 
Order of Operations: Be able to find the value of an expression using PEMDAS
Algebra: Know how to evaluate an expression with a given variable (for example, to evaluate x + 5 for x = 2, substitute 2 for x: 2 + 5 = 7). Also know how to solve an equation mentally (for example, to solve p + 3 =  5, we think to ourselves, "What number plus 3 gives us 5? The answer is 2")
Area of a Rectangle: The formula will be on your test. A = lw (Area equals length times width). For a rectangle with a length of 4 inches and a width of 3 inches, we multiply 4 x 3, and our answer is 12 inches squared.

Chp. 2

Graphs: Know how to construct and read a frequency table, bar graph, line graph, circle graph, and stem & leaf plot
Measures of Central Tendency: Know how to find the mean, median, mode and range of set of data (mean - add all the numbers up and divide by how many you have; median - list them in order and find the middle number or, if there are two middle numbers, the mean of the two middle numbers; mode - number which appears most often; range - to find the range, subtract the lowest value from the highest value)

Chp. 3

Decimals: Know how to write a decimal in word and standard form (take a look @ your place values chart!)
Ordering Decimals: Know how to compare decimal values and order them from least to greatest
Rounding Decimals: Know how to round a decimal to a given place value (for example, to round 52.73 to the nearest tenth, we round to 52.7 since the 3 is "4 or below, so we let it go")
Adding and Subtracting Decimals: Line up the decimals, then add or subtract just like with whole numbers. You can round to estimate before you start so you know you're on the right track when you get your answer.

Chp. 4

Multiplying Decimals by whole numbers: Don't line the decimals up - line the numbers up as though there aren't any decimals. See previous blog post for more detail. Then, solve just like normal whole numbers (you may need to annex zeros), and count how many numbers there are after the decimal. Then place the decimal in your answer the same amount of places from the right. 
Multiplying Decimals by decimals: Same method as above, but remember to count ALL the numbers after the decimals in your problem to determine how many places from the right the decimal will go in your answer. 
Dividing Decimals by whole numbers: First, carry the decimal straight up. Then divide as with regular numbers. *Don't forget, you may need to annex zeros!!! Round to the nearest tenth for each answer (no remainders) - which means you need to solve until the hundredths place to determine the right value for the tenths place