Course Description:

Precalculus combines concepts of trigonometry, geometry, and algebra that are needed to prepare students for the study of calculus. The course strengthens students’ conceptual understanding of problems and mathematical reasoning in solving problems. Facility with these topics is especially important for students who intend to study calculus, physics, other sciences, and engineering in college. The main topics in the Precalculus course are complex numbers, rational functions, trigonometric functions and their inverses, inverse functions, vectors and matrices, and parametric and polar curves.

Teacher Information

Grades/Grading Criteria:

Grades will be calculated using the category weights listed below and the following grading scale.

If your final grade is a borderline grade (i.e. 79.5% or 88.9%), your performance throughout the whole semester will be examined in determining the final grade.  DO NOT ASK FOR YOUR GRADE TO BE ROUNDED UP!!!

Assignments and Assessment Retakes

Assignments must be complete with all work shown to receive full credit when the assignment is due.  Late work will be accepted for partial credit up to 1 week past the due date.  Late work must be 100% complete to receive any credit.

Students may retake a quiz one additional time to improve their grade on that quiz.  Students must complete a Quiz Correction and show additional practice (tutoring, EP assignments, reworking notes).  When ready to retake, students must schedule a time at least 2 days in advance of a desired retake.  The retake score will replace the original score.

Attendance/Make Up Work:

It is the student’s responsibility to check the class website or ask the teacher for makeup/absence work in a timely manner.  Email, messaging, and homeroom are appropriate ways to contact the teacher.  Students will be allowed two school days for each day of absence (up to five days) to make up the work they missed. An absence does NOT excuse the student  from the work missed.  Students are accountable for all assignments and assessments.

Please note: Failure to make arrangements and/or make up a missed quiz or test due to an absence before the makeup deadline will count as your first and/or second attempt.

Academic Honesty:

The students of El Diamante High School are expected to demonstrate the belief that personal integrity is basic to all solid achievement and that it is the responsibility of the school to maintain a climate in which honesty is expected and valued. Cheating is an obstacle to achieving this goal. With regard to schoolwork, cheating is defined as obtaining or providing any help on an assignment or test where the intent was that the student completes the assignment or test by themselves.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating. To plagiarize is to take ideas or words of another person and pass them off as one’s own. This applies to written material, and materials or information from Internet sources. Students are expected to provide adequate documentation as to the source of information used as an indication of academic honesty. Teachers reserve the right to use appropriate methods (Internet) in order to confirm the authorship of papers turned in by students.

The teacher’s professional judgment will determine whether cheating has occurred. Students shall not give an instructor cause to consider their actions dishonest. If it is determined that a student has cheated or plagiarized, the student will receive a 0 on the assignment/assessment in question and be subject to disciplinary consequences as outlined in the VUSD Conduct Code. Sources: Board Policy 5131.p – Administrative Regulation 5131.9a

Required Texts and Resources:

A graphing calculator is not required, but may be helpful for completing assignments at home.  DeltaMath,  Desmos, and Geogebra are free online graphing calculators with free mobile applications if needed outside of class.

Classroom Rules/Procedures:

Course Curriculum: