Mathematics in Action: An Introduction to Algebraic, Graphical, and Numerical Problem Solving, 6th Edition © 2020
The Consortium for Foundation Mathematics
Mathematics in Action: An Introduction to Algebraic, Graphical, and Trigonometric Problem Solving is based on the principle that students learn mathematics best by doing the math within a realistic context. From this perspective, the authors offer guided-discovery activities that help students to construct, reflect upon and apply mathematical concepts, deepening their conceptual understanding along the way. This active style of learning develops critical-thinking skills and mathematical literacy. The 6th edition includes updated examples and activities for maximum interest and relevance.
Hallmark features of this title
- Thematic clusters in each chapter contain activities that cover specific concepts and skills. The variety of activities in each cluster allows instructors to customize content for their class needs.
- Additional project activities ask students to take a deeper dive into a topic.
- Summary Boxes of main concepts at the end of each activity help students recognize and connect critical topics and concepts.
- Abundant review exercises throughout:
- Skills Check exercises address basic skills. What Have I Learned? problems require students to pull together topics.
- How Can I Practice? exercises are a key self-assessment tool. Gateway Review exercises help students assess their understanding and synthesize chapter concepts with previously covered material.
New and updated features of this title
- All data-based activities and exercises have been updated to reflect the most recent information and/or replaced with more relevant topics. New real-world exercises have been added throughout.
- More robust, up-to-date situations replace the introductory scenarios in several activities.
- To help instructors prep more easily for their course, all activity headers now include the mathematical topic that will be learned in that section.
- Carefully reviewed and revised exposition and topic treatment, where necessary, provides students with a clearer and easier-to-understand presentation.
This program offers:
- A new video program built around the Consortium approach includes activity-level videos and shorter example-level videos, giving students access to help no matter where they are.
- Premade Learning Catalytics questions for nearly every activity help instructors quickly assess the class's progress on a given concept and give students an opportunity to use technology as an interactive learning tool. Learning Catalytics annotations for instructors in the text enables a quick start to begin using this technology.
- PowerPoint slides for each activity support instructors looking to implement the contextual approach in class or can be used by students as a reference or learning tool. Accessible versions of PowerPoints are also available.
- Integrated Review gives students remediation on prerequisite topics great for underprepared students or for a corequisite course.
- Skill Builder offers in-assignment adaptive practice designed to increase students' ability to complete their assignments.
- Student and assignment tagging in the gradebook and assignment manager make for easier course management. Assign homework to a subset of students, filter your Gradebook to a particular set of students, or change the settings on a specific type of assignment.
CHAPTER 1. NUMBER SENSE
CLUSTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEM SOLVING
Activity 1.1 The Bookstore: Steps in Problem Solving
Activity 1.2 The Classroom: Problem-Solving Strategies
Activity 1.3 Properties of Arithmetic: Properties and Vocabulary for Arithmetic Calculations
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 2: PROBLEM SOLVING WITH FRACTIONS AND DECIMALS (RATIONAL NUMBERS)
Activity 1.4 Top Chef: Operations with Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Project Activity 1.5 Course Grades and Your GPA: Problem Solving Using Fractions and Decimals
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 3: COMPARISONS AND PROPORTIONAL REASONING
Activity 1.6 Everything Is Relative: Ratios as Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
Activity 1.7 Antidepressant Use: Proportional Reasoning
Activity 1.8 Who Really Did Better? Actual and Relative Change, Percent Increase and Decrease
Activity 1.9 Going Shopping: Growth and Decay Factors
Activity 1.10 Take an Additional 20% Off: Consecutive Growth and Decay Factors
Activity 1.11 Fuel Economy: Rates and Unit Analysis
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 4: PROBLEM SOLVING WITH SIGNED NUMBERS
Activity 1.12 Celsius Thermometers: Addition and Subtraction of Integers
Activity 1.13 Shedding the Extra Pounds: Multiplication and Division of Integers
Activity 1.14 Order of Operations Revisited: Negative Exponents and Scientific Notation
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
Chapter 1 Summary
Chapter 1 Gateway Review
CHAPTER 2. VARIABLE SENSE
CLUSTER 1: SYMBOLIC RULES AND EXPRESSIONS
Activity 2.1 Symbolizing Arithmetic: Formulas and Algebraic Expressions
Activity 2.2 Blood Alcohol Levels: Represent a Two-Variable Relationship Algebraically, Numerically, and Graphically
Activity 2.3 College Expenses: Symbolic Rules
Activity 2.4 Are They the Same? Equivalent Expressions and Grouping Symbols
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 2: SOLVING EQUATIONS
Activity 2.5 Let’s Go Shopping: Solve an Equation Containing One Operation
Activity 2.6 Leasing a Copier: Solve an Equation Containing Two or More Operations
Activity 2.7 The Algebra of Weather: Solve a Formula for a Specified Variable
Activity 2.8 Four out of Five Dentists Prefer Crest: Proportions
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 3: MORE PROBLEM SOLVING USING ALGEBRA
Activity 2.9 Do It Two Ways: Distributive Property, Greatest Common Factor, and Combining Like Terms
Activity 2.10 Decoding: Simplifying Algebraic Expressions
Activity 2.11 Comparing Energy Costs: Mathematical Models, General Strategy for Solving Linear Equations
Project Activity 2.12 Summer Job Opportunities: Problem Solving Using Linear Equations
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
Chapter 2 Summary
Chapter 2 Gateway Review
CHAPTER 3. FUNCTION SENSE AND LINEAR FUNCTIONS
CLUSTER 1: FUNCTION SENSE
Activity 3.1 Summer Olympics: Functions, Numerical and Graphical Representation of Functions
Activity 3.2 How Fast Did You Lose? Average Rate of Change
Project Activity 3.3 Comparing Symbolically Defined Functions and Their Graphs
Activity 3.4 Course Grade: Representing Functions Symbolically
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO LINEAR FUNCTIONS
Activity 3.5 The Snowy Tree Cricket: Slope and Intercepts of a Line
Activity 3.6 Software Sales: Slope-Intercept Equation of a Line
Activity 3.7 Predicting Population: Problem Solving Using Slope-Intercept Equation of a Line
Activity 3.8 College Tuition: Point-Slope Equation of a Line
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 3: LINEAR REGRESSION, SYSTEM, AND INEQUALITIES
Activity 3.9 Education Pays: Line of Best Fit and Regression Lines
Lab Activity 3.10 Body Parts: Problem Solving Using Regression Equations
Activity 3.11 Smartphone Plan Options: Systems of Linear Equations in Two Variables
Activity 3.12 Healthy Lifestyle: Solving a System of Linear Equations in Two Variables Using the Addition Method
Project Activity 3.13 Modeling a Business: Problem Solving Using Systems of Linear Equations in Two Variables
Activity 3.14 How Long Can You Live? Linear Inequalities
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
Chapter 3 Summary
Chapter 3 Gateway Review
CHAPTER 4. AN INTRODUCTION TO NONLINEAR PROBLEM SOLVING
CLUSTER 1: MATHEMATICAL MODELING INVOLVING POLYNOMIALS
Activity 4.1 Fatal Crashes: Polynomials
Activity 4.2 Volume of a Storage Box: Properties of Exponents
Activity 4.3 Room for Work: Operations with Polynomials
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 2: PROBLEM SOLVING WITH QUADRATIC EQUATIONS AND FUNCTIONS
Activity 4.4 The Amazing Property of Gravity: Solving Quadratic Equations
Activity 4.5 What Goes Up, Comes Down: Quadratic Functions and Their Graphs
Activity 4.6 How High Did It Go? Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring
Activity 4.7 More Ups and Downs: Solving Quadratic Equations Using the Quadratic Formula
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
CLUSTER 3: OTHER NONLINEAR FUNCTIONS
Activity 4.8 Inflation: Exponential Functions
Activity 4.9 A Thunderstorm: Direct Variation
Activity 4.10 Diving under Pressure, or Don’t Hold Your Breath: Inverse Variation
Activity 4.11 Hang Time: Square Root Functions
What Have I Learned?
How Can I Practice?
Chapter 4 Summary
Chapter 4 Gateway Review
APPENDICES
A. Fractions
B. Decimals
C. Skills Checks
D. Algebraic Extensions
E. Getting Started with the TI-84 Plus Family of Calculators
The Consortium for Foundation Mathematics
The Consortium for Foundation Mathematics is a group of mathematics educators, all originally from New York State, who first came together at State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego in the summer of 1995 as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. The members of the group represented 2-year and 4-year colleges, commuter and residential colleges, large urban institutions and small rural institutions, and multi-campus as well as single-campus institutions.
Unified by a desire to change the status quo to further student success, the group's initial objectives aimed at a new approach to developmental math that included contextual problem-solving, active collaborative learning, and authentic assessment tied more closely to real-world skills. The efforts of this initial grant resulted in new instructional materials that formed the basis of Consortium's texts, which include a range from Prealgebra to Intermediate Algebra, as well as high school titles. As one Consortium author noted, contributing to this series with its different approach “changed my views about math, and about teaching math.” Of the 16 instructors originally involved in the grant, 8 instructors contribute to the latest editions of the text.
This program is available in a variety of formats. You can review the individual prices for each ISBN in our catalog. All access codes are for use by 1 student, for 1 course, for up to 1 year, and are non-transferable.
| Format | ISBN-13 |
|---|---|
| Student edition | 9780135115626 |
| Student edition + MyMathLab for School with Pearson eTextbook (1-year access) | 9780135231425 |
| Student edition + MyMathLab for School with Pearson eTextbook (6-year access) | 9780135231449 |
| Student edition + MathXL for School (1-year access) | 9780135231401 |
| Student edition + MathXL for School (6-year access) | 9780135231418 |
| Annotated teacher’s edition | 9780134989310 |
| Worksheets for classroom and lab practice | 9780135163313 |
| MyMathLab for School with Pearson eTextbook (1-year access) | 100% digital solution. Access code is delivered via email. | 9780132962377 |
| MyMathLab for School with Pearson eTextbook (6-year access) | 100% digital solution. Access code is delivered via email. | 9780132962391 |
Not seeing what you’re looking for?
Check out our catalog
Review all our AP®, Honors, and Electives programs, including available formats, prices, and ISBNs
Online learning
MyMathLab for School
Aligns with Pearson's mathematics and statistics programs for high school students. Powered by MathXL® for School, MyMathLab® for School provides students with personalized instruction and skills-based practice.
If you'd like to see a demo of MyMathLab for School, contact our team.
AP®, Honors, & Electives Catalog
Not seeing what you’re looking for?
Review all our AP®, Honors, and Electives programs, including available formats, prices, and ISBNs
Contact Pearson
Our experts will guide you through available programs, eTextbooks, and printed materials.
With this form, you can request a sample, access instructor resources, or make a purchase.
AP® is a trademark registered and/or owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, these programs.