Algebra 1
Algebra is one 8th grade standard math. As long as you maintain a grade above a C, you can stay in the class, and even get highschool credit for it. Each quarter, more and more people get knocked down to Pre-Algebra, so the pressure is on.
Quarter Four:
In fourth quarter algebra, we learned about the quadratic formula. The formula is shown in the picture to the right. This formula can be used to solve for x in a quadratic equation. A quadratic equation looks like ax^2+bx+c=0. If you put numbers into the variables, you could have an equation that looks like this. x^2-6x-7=0 You can solve for x by putting those numbers into the quadratic formula under the same variable. So for instance, if you were to use that equation, the formula would look like be x equals 6 plus or minus the square root of -6 squared minus four times one times negative seven, divided by 2 times 1. I would type it out but it looks even more confusing. At the beginning of the year, a formula like this would have scared me. I've learned a lot this year in math class, and math is even kind of interesting now. Quarter Three:
In the third quarter of Algebra, one of the units we did was the Pythagorean theorem. Using this theorem, you can find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle. If you take the length of one of the short legs and square it, then add it with the length of the other shorter leg squared, you get the sum of the hypotenuse squared. Then if you get the square root of that you will have the length of the hypotenuse. Quarter Two:
In Algebra class, we have recently started Khan Academy. Previously, we had been using TenMarks, but Khan Academy is definitely better. Khan Academy is a website that is free to use, and it has very useful videos and practice systems about math. Last year, I used Khan Academy for most of my math, so I'm used to it. It is a great program and I'm really glad we aren't using TenMarks anymore. Quarter One:
In the first quarter of algebra, we made equivalent models. We took an average object, and made an enlarged model of it. We made the object to be as big to us as it would be to a Barbie doll. For instance, if the object was an eraser, and it came up the the Barbie's knee, then the model eraser would come up to the student's knee. It was a very interesting project, and I hope we get to do more like it in the future. |