Pre-Algebra
The bridge from arithmetic to algebra. Letters start standing in for numbers, ratios compare quantities, exponents compress repeated multiplication, and scientific notation makes the very large and very small tractable.
Variables & Expressions
Letters as stand-ins for numbers. Building expressions, evaluating them, the difference between an expression and an equation.
Ratios, Rates & Proportions
Comparing quantities: a ratio is a pair, a rate is a ratio with units, a proportion is an equation between two ratios.
Exponents
Compressed multiplication: aⁿ means n copies of a multiplied together. The laws of exponents and what zero and negative powers mean.
Roots & Radicals
Undoing exponents. Square roots, cube roots, fractional exponents, and why √2 refuses to be a fraction.
Scientific Notation
A compact way to write very large and very small numbers. Standard form, computing in it, and significant figures.