Midterm Study Guide

What to expect:
Concepts from Chapters 1 - 3 (excluding rounding, solving inequalities and the metric system)

Resources to study:
- Previous blog posts
- Khan Academy videos
- Be sure to look back @ all 3 tests we've taken
- Quick Checks in your online textbook
- The Chapter Review @ the end of each chapter (we'll be using these a lot in class)

Things you'll need to know by chapter:

Chp. 1
Variable expressions: Knowing how to express a numerical value using a variable. For example, "twenty-five less than x" would be expressed by x - 25.
Order of Operations: PEMDAS
Evaluating a variable expression: Just substitute the variable. For example, 3x + 4 for x = 5 would look like this, after substituting 5 for x: 3(5) + 4. Then we'd use order of operations: 15 + 4 = 9.
Integers: Everyone's favorite! (hehe just kidding, I think?) Take a look at old blog posts to refresh your memory. There's lots of info on here about how to solve problems with negative numbers.
- Absolute value
- Comparing integers (for example, what's greater, -7 or -9?)
- Adding and subtracting integers
- Multiplying and dividing integers
Number patterns: Figuring out what the "rule" is for a pattern, and then finding the next few numbers. For example, for the set 0, 6, 12, 18... we can conclude that the rule is "start w/ zero and add 6", and that the next two numbers will be 24 and 30.
The coordinate plane: You'll need to know how to graph a set of coordnates, such as (3, 5)

Chp. 2
Distributive Property: Know how to distribute by multiplying what's on the outside of the parentheses to the items inside the parentheses separately. For example, 3(6 + 2) is distributed as 3(6) + 3(2), which gives us 18 + 6 = 24.
Simplifying variable expressions: Remember to:
1) Change any subtracting to adding a negative
2) Combine like terms
For example: To simplify 2x + 3y - 2y + 7, we first rewrite the expression without subtraction:
2x + 3y + -2y + 7
Then, combine like terms:
2x + y + 7
Solving Equations: This is the big one! Remember to do the opposite to both sides in order to get the variable by itself! Check out previous examples in the blog. I think most of you have a pretty good handle on solving equations, but we'll be practicing a lot in class too.
Graphing inequalities

Chp. 3
Measures of Central Tendency: This means mean, median, mode (and range)
Mean: Add 'em all up and then divide by however many numbers you have
Median: Line 'em up in order from least to greatest - then identify the middle number (OR, if there are two middle numbers, the median is the mean of those two middle numbers)
Mode: The number that appears most often
Range: The difference between the greatest and least values in the data set
Formulas: You don't need to memorize any formulas. You just need to be able to plug in the right numbers into a formula. For example, if a rectangle has a length of 5 inches and a width of 2 inches, and the formula for the Area is length x width, you'll  need to plug 5 x 2 into the formula and solve (we'd get 10 inches squared).
Solving Equations w/ Decimals: Same exact method for solving equations, only a little more complex because we're using decimals instead of whole numbers.