Room: HUM3015
Time: Sunday 9:15AM - 10:50AM
Grades: 8-9
Prerequisites: Math 7 or placement test
Material fee: $10.00
Description: The Math 8b course is designed to teach the fundamentals of logic and geometric proofs, including similar and similar triangles, quadrilaterals, and polygons, circles, power of a point, three-dimensional geometry, as well as intermediate notions of counting and probability including casework counting, inclusion-exclusion, Pascal's triangle, Fibonacci and Catalan numbers, combinatorial identities, the Binomial Theorem. A few algebraic proofs will be also attempted.
Overall the course is structured to develop problem-solving skills and logical reasoning, through geometric and algebraic proofs. Olympiad-level geometric proof problems and geometric constructions will also be discussed. While this class shares a number of topics with the Geometry Honors school classes, it focuses on a number of topics and explores them in-depth instead of taking a thin-spread approach.
The class is appropriate for students who are interested in STEM subjects and want to develop an ability to reach proof-based conclusions about the world surrounding them.
Homework Policies: As a parent, I know that time-consuming homework is a concern for both students and parents. During semester-exam weeks we will have math battles or no homework activities. On regular weeks, the homework will be divided into two sections. One section has mandatory exercises that students need to be able to solve independently while showing their work. Successful completion of weekly mandatory exercises is required not only to successfully pass the class but also to build up the knowledge one needs to further advance through the class. Solving the exercises of this section should not require more than 2-4h per week depending on the student’s ability. The other section will contain challenging problems which might take more time and which will be discussed together in the subsequent class as well.
Homeworks
These homeworks are copyrighted material, posted here for use by
SchoolNova students and parents. Everyone else is welcome to print a copy of these materials for their personal use;
any redistribution or commercial use is prohibited
- Assigned on 09/18: Classwork: Review placement test(we did only 1, 2, 4, 6, 7) | Homework (only 1,2,3,4,5):: We reviewed Geometric/Arithmetic Series |
- Assigned on 09/25: Classwork: Some solved Homework exercises | Homework: Review Part 2 (11-14 are optional) |
Before doing the homework, read the HW1 solutions and re-read on the back of your homework the review for the discriminant formula, "complete to the square" procedure and Vieta formulas(sum and product of the roots).
Try your best to show your work.
- Assigned on 10/2: Homework Review Combinatorics: Permutations, (Circular) Arrangements |
Do as many combinatorics problems as you can. Algebra homework is optional.
- Assigned on 10/16: Homework: Pascal Triangle |
Exercises 4 an 5 are optional
- Assigned on 10/23: Homework: Combinatorics- working with formulas |
- Assigned on 11/6: Homework: Binomial formula |
- Assigned on 11/13: Classwork+Homework: Logic |
- Assigned on 11/20: Classwork+HW: Logic 2 |
- Assigned on 12/4: Classwork+HW: Logic 3 |
- Assigned on 12/11: Classwork and Homework: Logic 4: Logic Proofs Continued |
- Assigned on 12/18: Math Battle: |
- Assigned on 01/8: Classwork and Homework: Euclidean Geometry: Axioms |
- Assigned on 01/15: Classwork and Homework: Euclidean Geometry: First theorems, parallel lines, triangles |
- Assigned on 01/22: Classwork and Homework: Euclidean Geometry: Triangle inequalities |
- Assigned on 01/29: Classwork and Homework: Euclidean Geometry: Quadrilaterals, midline of a triangle |