Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion, students should be able to:

• Apply life experiences to identify a question or situation that can use a mathematical approach
• Solve problems and make decisions using multiple and effective math strategies
• Understand, interpret and work with concrete objects and symbolic representation (e.g. pictures, numbers, graphs, computer representations)
• Utilize technology to solve a mathematical problem
• Determine the degree of precision best suited to the situations
• To be prepared for future math classes

Curriculum

• Apply a variety of mathematical concepts involving rational numbers.
• Create equivalent representations of numbers up to a billion and to the nearest thousandths.
• Recognize that a fraction can represent different ideas ( e.g. a ratio representing part: part, part: whole)

Find the probability of a single outcome in a simple concrete situation with a very limited
number of possible outcomes.

• Describe how the simple probability of an event occurring is influenced by various factors.
• Compare the likelihood of two uncertain outcomes using simple language.
• Use proportional reasoning to solve a variety of problems, including percent increase or decreaseExplain ratios as equivalent forms of fractions

Read, write, interpret and apply common types of information related to measurement and geometry.

• Recognize and use commonly used standard units of measure.
• Make inference about the formulas for simple two-dimensional shapes.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the coordinate graph system, including ordered pairs.
• Infer about the relationship between angles and sides n similar triangles.
   

Read, interpret and apply a variety of common symbolic information.

• Recognize and develop repeating patterns and generalize the relationship with a table, rule, graph, or one?step formula.
• Develop formulas and create simple linear graphs from tables.
• Apply order of operations to evaluate expressions.
• Solve multi?step equations by using number sense, properties of operations, and the idea of maintaining equality on both sides of an equation.
   

Read and interpret and pose questions with a variety of common data and statistical information.

• Identify the shape, range, mean, median, and mode of sets of data.
• Organize data and choose an appropriate representation.
• Make inferences based on the data.

• Apply common types of mathematical information and concepts to real-life and theoretical problems involving rational numbers.
• Complete homework and/or computer-based assignments
• Read and interpret common data and statistical information
• Interpret and apply common patterns, functions and relationships using technology
• Move up a level in the Math CASAS Post Test and pass a teacher generated post test

Themes: Family, Citizen, Lifelong Learner, Worker
Concepts: goal setting, critical thinking, math vocabulary, decision making, confidence building, collaborative team work
Issues: barriers to student success, access to resources, communication skills, learning differences, test and school anxiety, employability, testing strategies, cultural awareness, motivation
Skills:

• Compute and apply skills with rational numbers
• Understand, interpret and work with concrete objects and symbolic representations
• Estimate to predict results and check to see if results are reasonable
• Communicate reasoning and results in a variety of ways such as words, graphs, charts, tables and algebraic models.
• Apply life experiences and knowledge of mathematical concepts, procedures, and technology to figure out how to answer a question. Solve a problem, make a prediction, or carry out a task that has mathematical dimension.