Course:  MATH 2131. Nature and Use of Numbers 1 (3-0-3).
Term:  Maymester 2001
Instructor Dr. Jerrel Yates

Meeting Time and Place:   03:00pm-06:05pm, May 14 - June 4, 2001,  MTWR           Arnold Hall-103

Prerequisite:  None .

Course Description:  An exploration of basic concepts and operations of rational numbers and generalizations to algebra. Problem solving. Appropriate technology will be used. This course will not count for mathematics minors or majors or for secondary mathematics education majors.

Text:  Mathematics for Elementary Teachers, Musser, Burger, and Peterson published by John Wiley & Sons. bookpicture.jpg (26222 bytes)

 

Course Syllabus  (Tentative):  The course will concentrate on the following topics based on the text: Mathematics for Elementary Teachers, Musser, Burger, and Peterson published by John Wiley & Sons.

 

 

Topics

 

1 INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM SOLVING 1

1.1 The Problem Solving Process and Strategies 3
1.2 Three Additional Strategies 15


2 SETS, WHOLE NUMBERS, AND NUMERATION 35

2.1 Sets As a Basis for Whole Numbers 37
2.2 Whole Numbers and Numeration 48
2.3 The Hindu-Arabic System 58
2.4 Relations and Functions 67

3 WHOLE NUMBERS: OPERATIONS AND PROPERTIES 91

3.1 Addition and Subtraction 93
3.2 Multiplication and Division 105
3.3 Ordering and Exponents 119


4 WHOLE-NUMBER COMPUTATION-MENTAL, ELECTRONIC AND WRITTEN 133

4.1 Mental Math, Estimation, and Calculators 135
4.2 Written Algorithms for Whole-Number Operations 149
4.3 Algorithms in Other Bases 166


5 NUMBER THEORY 177

5.1 Primes, Composites, and Tests for Divisibility 179
5.2 Counting Factors, Greatest Common Factor, and Least Common Multiple 191


6 FRACTIONS 207

6.1 The Set of Fractions 209
6.2 Fractions: Addition and Subtraction 222
6.3 Fractions: Multiplication and Division 232

 

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