Skills Needed for Success

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Use the properties of equality to solve algebraic equations
  • Plot ordered Pairs in the coordinate plane and recognize the quadrants of the plane
  • Graph an equation by plotting points
  • Graph an equation by using intercepts
  • Graph horizontal and vertical lines
  • Find the slope of line from its graph, its equation, and from two points on its graph
  • Identify slope of horizontal and vertical lines
  • Interpret slope in a real situation
  • Use the rules for exponents to simplify expressions containing exponents

You may have already brushed up on the algebra you’ll need to develop and use growth modules when you prepared to study their equations in the previous module. Even so, it is a good idea to try the Review Readiness Check again for this module as the algebra you’ll encounter when modeling is challenging. You’ll want to be sure you are comfortable applying the properties of equality to isolate a variable in an equation and that you understand the characteristics of linear equations including slope as a rate of change.

This review section also covers the language of functions without going deeply into the operations on functions. It will be important to be able to recognize the language and notation of functions as equations that model situations having an unambiguous output dependent upon a corresponding input.

Of course, the red boxes with helpful tips will appear throughout the module to remind you of important facts and techniques along the way.

Recall for success

Look for red boxes like this one throughout the text. They’ll show up just in time to give helpful reminders of the math you’ll need, right where you’ll need it.

If you already feel confident in the skills listed above, you can skip directly to the content for this module. Skip the Skills