PreCalculus

Purpose of the Document: This document provides an overview of this course. The information provided below is designed to support students, parents, and the school community in understanding the major content of the course and the standards used to design it. To support the needs of students, teachers may make adjustments as needed. Please contact your child’s teacher and/or review the course Schoology page with your child for additional information.

Program Vision: The vision of the Secondary Math Ohana is to provide students with a supportive learning environment that encourages all learners to realize their potential as productive members of our community. Our department ensures that:

Our curriculum is aligned to state standards, and where applicable, national standards.
Our curriculum is created with input from all stakeholders.
Our curriculum is aligned vertically and offers opportunities for all students for acceleration, honors-level courses, and AP.
Our teachers address the needs and learning styles of our students while providing multiple entry points for differentiated learning.
We, through a collaboration with Cecil College and our School of Technology, prepare all students for post-secondary education and careers.

Program Mission: The mission of the Secondary Mathematics Department is to ensure the success of all learners by providing multiple opportunities for students to strive for mastery of concepts. We strive to create an environment that empowers students to become confident and competent problem solvers.

Course Description: PreCalculus is a rigorous, college preparatory course for students in grades 11 or 12. The course involves the exploration and application of mathematical concepts. Students explore applications and develop a deeper understanding of important mathematics, such as rational functions, systems of equations, applications of matrices, series, and sequences, conic sections, limits, and derivatives.

This course meets the University System of Maryland admissions requirements as a final-year course. A letter signed by the Director of Articulation and Enrollment Services for the University of Maryland is available upon request.

MARKING PERIOD ONE (September - November)

Marking Period Topics at-a-Glance

● Quadratic functions

● Complex numbers

● Polynomial functions

● Rational functions

Standards Taught

PreCalculus is a course designed around Maryland’s College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS) and focused on six major themes. One major theme is addressed in marking period 1.

● Polynomial and Rational Functions

This link takes you to the MCCRS standards for PreCalculus. The Instructional Coordinator was part of the team that created these standards for Maryland.

How students are graded:

3 summative assessments — county created (60% of the grade)
6-9 formative assessments — a mix of teacher-created and county-created (40% of the grade). Formative assessments may include homework and classwork as an assessment for learning
Check your teacher’s grading policy for retest, late work, and other guidelines for grading.

Resources:

Precalculus with Limits, A Graphing Approach (7th edition) is the primary resource for the course. The same text is used in the Trig, Functions, and Statistics course.

Home and School Connection

Please encourage your students to use these two websites for additional support:

Please check the teacher’s Schoology page for additional resources and support.

MARKING PERIOD TWO (November - January)

Marking Period Topics at-a-Glance

● Systems of linear equations (3x3 and beyond)

● Systems containing a linear and a nonlinear

● Matrix operations and applications

● Systems of linear inequalities and linear programming

Standards Taught

PreCalculus is a course designed around Maryland’s College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS) and focused on six major themes. One major theme is addressed in marking period 2.

● Linear systems and matrices

This link takes you to the MCCRS standards for PreCalculus. The Instructional Coordinator was part of the team that created these standards for Maryland.

How students are graded:

3-4 summative assessments — county created (60% of the grade)
6-9 formative assessments — a mix of teacher-created and county-created (40% of the grade). Formative assessments may include homework and classwork as an assessment for learning
Check your teacher’s grading policy for retest, late work, and other guidelines for grading.

Resources:

Precalculus with Limits, A Graphing Approach (7th edition) is the primary resource for the course. The same text is used in the Trig, Functions, and Statistics course.

Home and School Connection

Please encourage your students to use these two websites for additional support:

Please check the teacher’s Schoology page for additional resources and support.

MARKING PERIOD THREE (January - April)

Marking Period Topics at-a-Glance

● Conic Sections, including circles, parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas

● Parametric functions

● Introduction to limits

Standards Taught

PreCalculus is a course designed around Maryland’s College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS) and focused on six major themes. Three major themes are addressed in marking period 3.

● Analytic Geometry, including Conic Sections

● Parametric functions

● Limits and an introduction to calculus

This link takes you to the MCCRS standards for PreCalculus. The Instructional Coordinator was part of the team that created these standards for Maryland.

How students are graded:

3-4 summative assessments — county created (60% of the grade)
6-9 formative assessments — a mix of teacher-created and county-created (40% of the grade). Formative assessments may include homework and classwork as an assessment for learning.
Check your teacher’s grading policy for retest, late work, and other guidelines for grading.

Resources:

Precalculus with Limits, A Graphing Approach (7th edition) is the primary resource for the course. The same text is used in the Trig, Functions, and Statistics course.

Home and School Connection

Please encourage your students to use these two websites for additional support:

Please check the teacher’s Schoology page for additional resources and support.

MARKING PERIOD FOUR (April - June)

Marking Period Topics at-a-Glance

● Techniques of finding limits

● Tangent lines and derivatives

● Area using summation and an introduction to integration

● Functions and trigonometry review to prepare for calculus

Standards Taught

PreCalculus is a course designed around Maryland’s College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS) and focused on six major themes. One major theme is addressed in marking period 4.

● Limits and an introduction to calculus

This link takes you to the MCCRS standards for PreCalculus. The Instructional Coordinator was part of the team that created these standards for Maryland.

How students are graded:

2-3 summative assessments — county created (60% of the grade). Seniors may only need a minimum of 2 summative grades in marking period 4.
6-9 formative assessments — a mix of teacher-created and county-created (40% of the grade). Formative assessments may include homework and classwork as an assessment for learning.
Check your teacher’s grading policy for retest, late work, and other guidelines for grading.

Resources:

Precalculus with Limits, A Graphing Approach (7th edition) is the primary resource for the course. The same text is used in the Trig, Functions, and Statistics course.

Home and School Connection

Please encourage your students to use these two websites for additional support:

Please check the teacher’s Schoology page for additional resources and support.

Cecil County Public Schools July 10, 2023