Gervais High School

Gervais School District

Department of Mathematics
Preparing students to meet the demands of a diverse and global community through critical thinking.
Course Title:
Instructor:
Room:
Phone:
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PreCalculus
Brad Simmons
8
503-792-3803
brad_simmons@gervais.k12.or.us

Course Description: This is a year long pre-calculus course designed to prepare students for further studies in advanced
mathematics. It includes the application of mathematical skills to a variety of problem solving situations. The main focus of this
course includes the study of functions, rational equations, and complex numbers, with an emphasis on trigonometry, matrices,
vectors, and conic sections. The Mathematical Practice Standards apply throughout each course and, together with the content
standards, prescribe that students experience mathematics as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that makes use of their ability
to make sense of problem situations. The critical areas for this course, organized into about 7 units, are as follows:
1).Fundamentals Review; including complex numbers; 2) Trigonometric functions; 3) Vectors; 4) Matrices; 5) Rational Functions;
6)Conic Sections and 7) Advanced Probability representation, application, and evaluation.
Essential Questions:
1.
2.

How does mathematics act as a coherent, useful, and logical subject that makes use
of their ability to make sense of problem situations.?
Why are the mathematical practices (see Mathematical Practice Standards below) a fundamental requirement in a
twenty-first society (American and/or global)?

Course Outcomes:
At the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the following Common Core State Standards for mathematics:
Perform advanced operations and graph with complex numbers.
Represent, perform operations on, and apply vectors.
Solve systems of equations using matrices
Perform operations on, and apply matrices.
Solve, graph, and analyze rational functions
Compose functions
Analyze & verify inverse functions using composition, and create inverse functions.
Apply and extend trigonometric functions using the unit circle.
Model and analyze periodic phenomena with trigonometric functions
Understand solving equations as a process of reasoning and explain the reasoning.
Represent and solve equations and inequalities graphically.
Analyze functions using different representations
Extend the domain of trigonometric functions using the unit circle.
Model periodic phenomena with trigonometric function.
Prove and apply advanced trigonometric identities.
Connect geometric and algebraic representations of conic sections.
Utilize advanced probability analysis to evaluate outcomes of decisions

Common Course State Standard Math Practice Standards

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
Text:
Demana, Waits, Foley, Kennedy. (2010). PRECALCULUS; GRAPHICAL, NUMERICAL, ALGEBRAIC. Addison Wesley.
Course Outline and Expectation
Class expectations: all students will communicate mathematical ideas and concepts through reading and writing, through graphic
representation, and through oral communication/presentation. Students will also be expected to sufficiently demonstrate skills in
problem solving and logical reasoning in the completion and application of mathematics in real life situations. Students will be
responsible for their own learning that will be facilitated and designed by the instructor. Students will be held to a high standard of
achievement and come ready to actively participate every day. Unit Plans will be given to students prior to the beginning of each
unit. These plans will provide the specific goals, expectations, and objectives for student to plan their studies.

Pre Calculus: Course Schedule

WEEK

CHAPTERS

1-3
P

4 - 18
4

UNIT

Fundamentals Review
Review of mathematical fundamentals: including
solving equations, complex numbers, various functions
and their inverses., right triangle trigonometry
Trigonometry Functions
The unit circle, radian and degree measures, angular &
linear motion, trigonometric graphs, inverse
trigonometry functions, and applications

19 - 21

Trigonometric identities, Law of Sines and Cosines

Vectors
6.1

22 - 25

Two dimensional vectors; their components, vector

operations, magnitudes, direction angles and
applications.
Matrices

7.1-7.2

26 - 27

TOPIC_______________________

Data representation in a matrix, matrix operations &

properties, solving systems, matrix transformations of
the plane.
Rational Functions

2.6
28 - 32

Solving and graphing rational functions

Conic Sections

8.1-8.3
32 - 36

Solving and graphing rational functions

Advanced Probability
9.1-9.3 &9.7-9.9
Calculate expected values and evaluate outcomes using
probability.
STUDY ASSISTANCE: Mon. - Fri. 7:30 - 7:55 am; 3:10 pm - 3:30 pm

Attendance & Tardy Policy:

Notes are to be presented at the school office and must contain the following information: 1) Date of absence(s) on the note and
when it was written; 2) Name of pupil; 3) Brief reason for absence; 4) Complete signature of parent or guardian.
Students will be held responsible for arranging with teachers to make up work missed for absences.
Any tardy over 5 minutes may be counted as an absence.
Any student arriving late to school without a note with an inexcusable reason for the tardy will receive a detention. Students that
fail to report to detention are subject to other consequences (i.e., Saturday School, ISS, or work crew). Students with three or more
unexcused tardies each week will be given a detention. You are considered tardy if you are not in your seat and prepared to learn
when the bell rings.

Grading Procedure:
Grades will be based on your performance on tests (worth 70% of your final grade), classwork/homework (worth 30% of
your final grade) in which points for your participation in small groups, and your work for projects and experiments will be
included. Assessments will occur upon completion of units of study. Other formative assessments will occur regularly throughout
each unit. Additionally, problem solving work samples, based on appropriate content, will be used to help assess content and the
Mathematics Practice Standards multiple times throughout the year. If absent (excused), the student is required to make up
homework and/or tests within one weeks time (late work will be reduced by 50% of the total score) from the students day of
return to school. If it is an unexcused absence a grade of 0 will be automatically given for homework, classwork, or tests given or
due at the time of the unexcused absence.
Grading of the problem solving work samples will be done on a six-point scale that reflects proficiency as defined by the
Common Core State Standards. Two measures of grading will be used: 1) Content focused grading; 2) Proficiency focused
grading. Content focused grading will represent assessments that are tied to content knowledge. These will be represented as letter
grades. Proficiency focused grading will represent assessments that are tied to C.C.S.S. requirements. These will be represented
as 1) Exceeds Mastery, 2) Mastery, 3) Proficient, 4) Nearly Proficient, & 5) Developing.