Here is a short list of exams that require basic Algebra:

College – Compass, Assett, Accuplacer

High School Equivalency – (CHSPE)
Catholic High School Entrance – HSPT, COOP, SHSAT,
High School – GQE, AHSGE, ITBS,  ISEE, CAHSEE, GEE, GHSGT,  FCAT
Nursing Entrance Exams – PAX RN,  TEAS, HESI, DET

Algebra Practice Test Questions

1. It is known that x2+4x=5. Then x can be

1. 0
2. -5
3. 1
4. Either (b) or (c)

2. (a+b)2 = 4ab . What is necessarily correct?

1. a>b
2. a<b
3. a=b
4. None of the Above

3. Sum of the digits of a 2-digit number is 12. If we switch the digits, the number we get will be greater than the initial one by 36. Find the initial number

1. 39
2. 48
3. 57
4. 75

4. Two friends traveled to a nearby city. In the second day they travelled 75 miles more than the first day, and in the third day, they travelled a third of the distance covered in the second day. How many miles did they cover in the first day, if the total travelled was 170 miles?

1. 30 miles
2. 35 miles
3. 105 miles
4. 135 miles

5. Kate’s father is 32 years older than Kate. In 5 years he will be five times older than his daughter. How old is Kate?

1. 2
2. 3
3. 5
4. 6

6. If Lynn can type a page in p minutes, what portion of the page can she do in 5 minutes?

1. 5/p
2. p – 5
3. p + 5
4. p/5

7. If Sally can paint a house in 4 hours, and John can paint the same house in 6 hours, how long will it take for both of them to paint the house together?

1. 2 hours and 24 minutes
2. 3 hours and 12 minutes
3. 3 hours and 44 minutes
4. 4 hours and 10 minutes

8. Employees of a discount appliance store receive an additional 20% off of the lowest price on any item. If an employee purchases a dishwasher during a 15% off sale, how much will he pay if the dishwasher originally cost $450?

1. $280.90
2. $287
3. $292.50
4. $306

Answer Key

1. D
x2 +4x=5, x2+4x-5=0, x2+5x-x-5=0, factorize x(x+5)-1(x+5)=o, (x+5)(x-1)=0.  x+5=0 or x-1=0, x=0-5 or x=0+1,  x= -5 or x=1, either b or c

2. C
Open parenthesis: 2a + 2b = 4ab, divide both sides by 2 = a+b=2ab or a+b=ab + ab, therefore a=ab and b=ab, therefore a=b

3. B
Let the XY represent the initial number, X + Y = 12, YX=XY+ 36, Only b=48 satisfies both equations above from the given options

4. A

5. B

Let the father’s age=Y, and Kate’s age=X, therefore Y=32+X, in 5yrs y=5x,substituting for Y will be 5x = 32+X, 5x – x = 32, 4X=32,X= 32/8, x = 8, Kate will be 8 in 5 yrs time, so Kate’s present age = 8-5=3

6. D

7. A

Let X represent the house, Sally paints X in 4hrs or ¼ X per 1hr or 60 minutes, John paints X in 6 hours or at 1/6X per 1hr or 60mins. Working together, they will paint 1/4x + 1/6x in 1hr or 60minutes = 10/24x = 5/12x every 60 minutes, to paint x = 60 minutes x 12/5 = 144 minutes or 2 hrs and 24 minutes

8. D

Cost of dishwasher = $450, 15% discount = 15/100 x 450 = $67.5, new price = 450 – 67.5 = $382.5, 20% discount on lowest price = 20/100 x 382.5 = $76.5, final price = $306
Algebra tutorial at Wikipedia

8 Days of Hannukah

What Fraction is the 3^rd Day of The 8 Days of Hannukah?

1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 8/8

Hannukah (sometimes pronounced Chanukah) is known as The Festival of Lights, and this practice is celebrated by the Jewish Peoples of The Earth.

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/605036/jewish/Chanukah-FAQs.html.  It is a remembrance of The Miracle of The Holy Olive Oil lasting for 8 days (i.e.) There was only enough oil to last for one day, but through the Miracle of The Holy Spirit during Beit Hamikdesh, it lasted 8 days and 8 nights, for the entirety of The Celebration of Chanukah.  Hannukah is celebrated starting the 25^th Day of Kislev (this corresponds to around the 21^st-28^th of December in the Gregorian calendar).

The typical Menorah consists of 8 branches with an additional raised or lowered branch in the middle to light the candles from, as there is a candle in each branch lit each night of the 8 days.  A fun thing that happens on Hannukah is The Spinning of The Dreidel, a four-sided spinning top that children play with. Each side of The Dreidel is imprinted with a Hebrew letter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#Dreidel.

 4 Quadrants of The Seasons

Winter Solstice December 21st 

What is The Fraction of The Solstices and Equinox Seasonal Cycles, based on The Gregorian and Celtic Calendar Year?

There are 4 quadrants that are the Seasonal Cycles of The Gravitational Cycles of The Earth, Sun and The Moon.  We call them:

Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall/Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice.

All fall around the 21^st – 23^rd of the corresponding month (in general the 21^st, depending on where the moon is, every year.

http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/equinox-not-equal.html.

1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4

1. Spring Equinox:  March 21^st                        1/4                           
2. Summer Solstice:  June 21^st                          2/4
3. Fall/Autumn Equinox: September 21st      3/4
4. and Winter Solstice: December 21^st            4/4

Traditional Song: 12 Days of Christmas

What is the Fraction of the 5^th Day of The 12 Days of Christmas?

Here is an example:  If you add together the 3^rd Day of Christmas and the 5^th Day if Christmas, what Christmas Fraction does this equal? (Answer:  3/12 +5/12 = 8/12)

1/12, 2/12, 3/12, 4/12, 5/12, 6/12, 7/12, 7/12, 8/12, 9/12, 10/12, 11/12, 12/12

Traditional Song:  The 12 Days of Christmas

On the 1^st First Day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

A partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 2^nd Second Day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 3^rd Third Day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 4^th Fourth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 5^th Fifth Day of Christmas, (5/12)

My true love sent to me

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 6^th Sixth Day of Christmas, (6/12)

My true love sent to me

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 7^th Seventh Day of Christmas, (7/12)

My true love sent to me

Seven swans a-swimming, (7/12)

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 8^th Eighth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Eight maids a-milking, (8/12)

Seven swans a-swimming, (7/12)

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 9^th Ninth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Nine ladies dancing, (9/12)

Eight maids a-milking, (8/12)

Seven swans a-swimming, (7/12)

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 10^th Tenth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Ten lords a-leaping, (10/12)

Nine ladies dancing, (9/12)

Eight maids a-milking, (8/12)

Seven swans a-swimming, (7/12)

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 11^th Eleventh day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Eleven pipers piping, (11/12)

Ten lords a-leaping, (10/12)

Nine ladies dancing, (9/12)

Eight maids a-milking, (8/12)

Seven swans a-swimming, (7/12)

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree. (1/12)

On the 12^th Twelfth Day of Christmas,

My true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming, 12/12

Eleven pipers piping, (11/12)

Ten lords a-leaping, (10/12)

Nine ladies dancing, (9/12)

Eight maids a-milking, (8/12)

Seven swans a-swimming, (7/12)

Six geese a-laying, (6/12)

Five golden rings, (5/12)

Four calling birds, (4/12)

Three French hens, (3/12)

Two turtle doves, (2/12)

And a partridge in a pear tree! (1/12)

And for some other of our Fun Learning Math Games, you can visit here:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/HexaRace.html.

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/FractionsCards.html.

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/fractions-hazard.html.

Supplies:

• Crayola Markers, 3 for each student
• One Organic Chocolate Bar for each student
• Piece of Paper

Have everyone bring in a Whole Chocolate Bar (organic if possible – it is healthier!)  -  One that has an equal number of squares in it.  They do not all have to be the same number of squares, but if they are, it is a bit easier for instructions.

Using a non-toxic marker (Crayola is my favorite), have each Learner draw a gridline across the paper on the outside of the bar in their favorite color. http://www.crayola.com/products/list.cfm?categories=MARKERS,BASICS

Step 1:  Counting 1-12 (usually,  this is the number of squares in a bar.)  If it is different, then  ask the learner to count, respectively re their bar, and write down on paper the basic 12 fractions of their bar:

1/12, 2/12, 3/12, 4/12, 5/12, 6/12, 7/12, 8/12, 9/12, 10/12, 11/12, 12/12

Step 2: Then secretly and individually, each student colors a different amount of squares in each bar, using 3 different colored markers.  Encourage Sharing/Trading markers if there is not enough markers to go around.

Step 3: Then, everyone divides into pairs, and one at a time – without  showing each other what they have colored – each student  guesses what 3 numbered fractions the other one has colored.

Eg/  Susan colored 3 squares in Red, 2 squares in Yellow, and 7 squares in Purple.  Therefore, Susan’s Secret Fraction Codes are:

3/12, 2/12 and 7/12.

Bob colored 3 squares in Blue, 6 squares in Green, and 3 Squares in Orange. Therefore, Bob’s Secret Fraction Codes are:

3/12, 6/12 and 3/12.

Step 4:  After successfully guessing the other’s Secret Fractions, each one guesses the 3 respective Colors – of each Fraction Code.

Step 5: Once they have successfully guessed the other one’s Secret Fraction Codes, have them, TOGETHER then, add all 3 to make the Whole Number One 1.

Eg/ Susan’s Secret Fraction Codes look like this:

3/12 + 2/12 + 7/12 = 12/12 = 1

Bob’s Secret Fraction Codes look like this:

3/12 + 6/12 + 3/12 = 12/12 = 1

Last Step:  Everyone share their Chocolate Bars with The Teacher! lolololololol

Enjoy!  Yum.

Love The Earth!

Remember to Recycle both the paper and the tinfoil or plastic that the bar was wrapped in!  The more Recycling and Care for The Earth, the more Pretty Colored Feathers (or Stars)you receive from The Teacher!

http://iloveloveearth.weebly.com/enter-the-i-love-earth-competition.html

For another one of our fun and affordable Fraction Games, you can visit here: http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/chocolate.html

If anyone would like to buy / donate them to the education program there, here is one site they can be purchased on:

http://www.enasco.com/math/Math+Manipulatives/Abacuses/

We found ours in Chinatown in downtown Victoria.  If anyone would like to buy and donate an abacus with us, please let us know, and we can save together on shipping costs.  This photo is Jane Yuan, from China and Victoria ….. and Sheila Hynes (one of our coordinators from math-lessons.ca).  Jane Yuan is a local artist here in Victoria, and is having fun showing us how to use the abacus.Here is the Pineridge  Shipping Address for anyone wishing to do a similar donation:

Via UPS/FedEx:

Theresa Lessert
Our Lady of Lourdes School
500 Lourdes Lane
Porcupine, SD 57772
Via U.S. Mail:

Theresa Lessert
Our Lady of Lourdes School
P. O. Box 7
Porcupine, SD 57772

“The Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation website focuses on specific needs of the many schools and social service organizations such as shelters, children’s organizations, and clinics physically located on the reservation. The reservation organizations’ needs are many and change constantly so your donations can take many forms, from school, sewing, crafts, sporting, baby, and office supplies, to toiletries, clothing, Christmas gifts, holiday items, bed, bath and kitchen linens, cold weather gear, crayons and more.” http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/

May Happy Feelings, Good Health, and Abundance beam Everywhere!

All Our Relations

http://www.enasco.com/math/Math+Manipulatives/Abacuses/

http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=315

Cool Free On-Line Interactive Abacus:

http://www.alabacus.com/pageView.cfm?pageID=321

http://www.mathmojo.com/abacus/mathmojowiththeabacus.html

And Here is a link for another one of our Fun Math Games:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/Decimals/decimal.html

There were 742 Placements from Grades 1-4 across Canada, who made the National Mathematics Honour Rolls.  And several others from all grades from other countries, with more details to come, as results roll in.

Categories included Thales; Byron-Germain; Fibonacci; Pythagoras; Math Kangaroo Tournament of Towns; Canadian National Math League; New Jersey National Math League Honour Roll; American Mathematics Competition Honour Roll; Brock University Caribou Math Competition; Centre for Education in Math and Computing Honour Roll (University of Waterloo);

List of Learners’ names to come soon!

http://www.spiritofmath.com

http://www.spiritofmath.com/2011contest/

If you want your class to enjoy one of our Fun Learning Games, downloadable hands-on learning tools, here are a few really great ones:

Quiz Master:  http://www.math-lessons.ca/review/math-review5.html

Race; Fractions Board Game:  http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/FractionsBoard5.html

Most kids LOVE pizza, so make it fun and bring REAL pizza into the classroom, several if parents are okay with chipping in on the cost or if the principal authorizes this as a project.  Or, do what we did, and bring in the ingredients, borrow the home economics room, and cook them right there in the classroom. If neither of these possibilities is viable, then divide the kids into groups of different numbers and ask them to draw a simple picture of a pizza on a piece of paper, with the number of slices drawn equal to the number of kids in their group.

Once the pizzas have either arrived, or are baked, cut each pizza into different numbers of sections. If it is real-life cooked pizzas, still have everyone draw first, a picture of their group’s pizza on their paper.  Write underneath the pic the whole fraction of the total number of slices and the whole number that equals.  How many for all the pizzas?

Divide the kids into groups, and ask each group to agree on what the fractions of the pizza are as the slices are being divvied up between the students.   (For drawn pizzas, use scissors to cut the slices out and place them together into a whole pizza pie on their table.  Have each student write down on a piece of paper, what fraction is “their” piece of the pizza – if their slice is the 3^rd slice, and the pizza was divided into 8 slices, she / he writes down 3/8.  Have the student, then answer what fraction of the pizza is left in the box (or on the plate).  In reference to this example, the student would answer 5/8.  As 8/8 –  3/8 = 5/8ths.

As everyone is then eating their pizza, (or pretend eating for those doing the drawn pizzas), discuss which number of their fraction is the denominator and which one is the numerator.  Explaining of course, that the numerator of the fraction is the top number and the denominator of the fraction is the bottom number.

This is a most delish-ious way of teaching fractions in the elementary classroom.  Or, for the drawn pizza class, a delish-ious idea to do first in class on paper, and then bring home to ask parents to cook with them.

Here is another one of our Fun Learning Pizza Games!

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/pizza-fractions.html

Making the task of teaching elementary math a little easier on the shoulders of the teachers, here is a checklist of goals for the year, to check off through the year, and give yourself a pat on the back for all of your teaching efforts and successes.  Given all that teachers do in the run of a teaching day, month, term and year, saying thank you is the least any of us can do.

At the year’s end, you can ask yourself if your Learners are Able to:

• Feel good about themselves whether they have the answers correctly or incorrectly divide by multiples of 10, 100, and 1000
• Understand and make basic home economic money-wise decisions such as buying groceries
• Grasp fractions, whole numbers, proportions, and percentiles
• Make a graph, understand a graph
• Use deductive reasoning – such as assessing shapes and figures in geometry and how they relate to each other
• Add, subtract, and multiply fractions

Adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions all connect with a broader goal of understanding parts or part and whole of all life ideas and circumstances. The mind develops conceptual ratios, proportions, and percentiles, as we walk through a market or a neighborhood.  These become the building blocks of learning algebra and calculus in the later years – conceptual models developing in the mind of building a bridge, for example.

Books and curriculum are tools to achieve these goals for teaching and learning in the elementary classroom, but the process of achieving or attempting to achieve the goals is the real success for both the learners and the Teachers.

For some fun, using games to teach and learn math, here are a few ideas:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/index.html.

Here is a Fun Idea for making it a Happy Heart Math day applicable to Grades 1-4 that encourage comprehension skills of:

Assessing, making predictions, and organizing

Counting, creating, adding, comparing

Listing/ recording data, and reading a graph

This activity is about making heart graphs, inspiring practice and comprehension for making graphs in general, and using fun hearts specifically.

Materials:

Bag of Multi-colored Candy Hearts, about 5/6 cups (1 cup worth for each 5 students)

Large Clear Glass or Plastic Vase / Jar

Plastic / Styrofoam Reusable Cups (1 for every 5 students)

Pencils and Pencil Crayons (matching colors to the Valentine Candy Hearts)

Graph Paper (2 pieces for each group of 5 students)

Prediction Graph

End Result Graph

Heart-Shaped Name Tags

Paper for recording data (1 piece for each group)

Glue Stick

Tape

1.  Divide Learners into groups, 4/5 in each group

2.  Each group guesses / predicts what color of Valentine hearts will be the highest number in the Vase of Hearts

3.  Learners of the whole class tape their Heart Name Tag on the Guess / Prediction

4.  Graph via their corresponding Valentine Color

5.  Each Group of Learners organize by color, a cup full of the candy hearts

6.  On paper, each Group of Learners records data by counting the hearts by color, and writing down the corresponding number of each color that was in their cup

7.  One color at a time, with colored pencils, one Learner from each group puts results of color numbers on the graph.

8.  Learners records all results on Results graph, one at a time, until all have had a chance to graph

Possible Questions to Ask and Share answers:

What color did you like the most?

When all results are added together, how many of each color are counted?

Who was closest to the true answer for numbers of each color? (Comparing Guess / Prediction Graph to End Result Graph)

Which colors were the highest to the lowest, in descending order?

Winners’ Prize:

Eat your favorite color Hearts!  Remember to Share if you and some others have the same favorite color.

And for One of our Fun Learning Math Games:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/FractionsBoard4.html.

Modern governments want to develop financial literacy among consumers in society. This means improving the ability to understand money matters, applying that knowledge and developing responsibility for making money decisions at the grade school level.  Money literacy is an important life skill. Although it has minimally been taught in school in courses such as Home Economics, things are changing in this area in attempt to make our children good money decision makers before they come into their adult years.

Kids need genuine and sound guidance from people who know what they are talking about.  Parents, schools and other initiatives are important in ensuring a society wide grasp of financial affairs.  Making this information accessible to all students, seems so important where it is existent in so many affairs of life around the entire globe.  So much about schooling has been geared toward finding a good job when a learner graduates from school, but they first need mature ideas of how to understand and manage money.

In our One and My Equals Card Deck, 3 Fun Games are included:

1. Go Figure! (like Go Fish)

2. Pie! (like Concentration)

3. Matrix!

To view and try out these fun money card games about the Whole Number One ($1) and all its equivalents – fractions, decimals, percentages and money,  click here:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/OneEquals.html

This site is also a valuable resource for kids that includes lessons about money, and game lessons on financial literacy and how to use money in their neighborhood:

http://www.kids.gov/k_5/k_5_money.shtml

• Teach them to use the ruler. Rulers are really handy for teaching real-world applications for fractions.  Most of them are already divided into halves, fourths, eighths, even sixteenths.  It’s easy to show them that two halves are the same as one. . . that two fourths are the same as one half, and four fourths are the same as one, and so on.
• Teach them to use measuring cups and spoons.  Bring lots of these dishes to class and give one measuring spoon and cup to each child.  Ask them to pour one cup of water into a tall glass. Now take guesses from the students:  How many half cups do they think it takes to fill a cup? How many quarter cups will it take?  How many one-eighth cups and one-third cups will it take?  Do the same with spoons:  How many half spoons does it take for one teaspoon, and so on?
• You can build on the measuring cups and measuring spoons lesson by giving each student a copy of a recipe or two.  Ask the students to help you rewrite the recipe.  For instance, you could take a recipe that serves four people and tell the kids that you only want to serve half that number (or two).  Then ask how many of each item you’ll need if you take half of each.
• Finally, you can use travel as a way of teaching fractions.  This one is more of a homework assignment.  Ask the children to count how many cars they pass on the way home from the school.  They write down this number.  Then ask them to write down how many are blue; how many red; how many white; how many yellow.  Finally, see if they can turn this into a fraction, reminding them that the color is the top number and the total number of cars is the bottom number.

These suggestions are not only fun ways to keep your students interested in fractions, but more importantly, they are ways to show them that fractions are applicable in real life.

For some of our fun games on fractions, you can visit these pages:

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/FractionsCards.html

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/cards.html

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/chocolate.html

http://www.math-lessons.ca/activities/FractionsBoard4.html