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Module - Factoring
Introduction - A Trip to Sea World

Lessons

1-

 Factors and Greatest Common Factors

2-

 Factoring Using the Distributive Property

3-

 Difference of Squares

4-

 Factoring Trinomials

5-

 Perfect Squares and Factoring

6-

 Solving by Factoring

7-

 Module Review

 

  


Any trip to SeaWorld is not complete until you have seen a dolphin leap high above the water to grab a fish. Have you ever wondered how long a dolphin can stay in the air after jumping out of the water? In a standard park pool, dolphins can reach speeds of 24 ft/s. If a dolphin leaves the water traveling at 24 ft/s and it jumps h feet above the water after t seconds, then its formula is

h = 24t - 16t^2

When the dolphin returns to the water, it is 0 feet above the water. Thus, by substituting, the formula becomes 0 = 24t - 16t^2. An obvious solution of the equation is when t=0, but when time is 0, the dolphin has not jumped out of the water! In this unit, we will learn a technique called factoring that will give us the solution.

Upon completion of the activities in this unit, you should be able to:

  • Use the following terms in a written paragraph to describe the key concepts of this unit.
    • composite number
    • greatest common factor (GCF)
    • prime factorization
    • prime number
  • Find the greatest common factor (GCF) for a set of monomials.
  • To factor polynomials using the GCF and the distributive property.
  • To factor quadratic trinomials.
  • To identify and factor difference of squares.
  • To identify and factor perfect square trinomials.
  • Factor polynomials by applying the various methods of factoring.
  • Use the zero product property to solve equations.
  • Solve equations using factoring methods and applying the zero product property.
HCPS 2002-2011