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Math Lit: A Pathway to College Mathematics, 3rd edition

Published by Pearson (June 3, 2021) © 2022

  • Kathleen Almy Rock Valley College
  • Heather Foes

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For Pathways courses (a 1-semester alternative to the 2-semester developmental algebra sequence for non-STEM students). 

Critical thinking in context

Math Lit, 3rd Edition prepares non-STEM students to move directly into liberal arts math or introductory statistics, while preparing STEM students for intermediate algebra. Emphasizing contextual problem solving, the authors approach each topic with two questions:  how does it work and how can I use it?  Students work through activities and explorations to gain a greater conceptual understanding of the four thematic strands: numeracy, proportional reasoning, algebraic reasoning, and functions. Topics from geometry and statistics are also included.  

Hallmark features of this title

  • Activity-based sections include carefully designed tasks, explorations and instruction, all paced for the developmental learner. Rather than covering topics in the same manner students may have seen them in high school, Almy and Foes use an active-learning approach to help students discover the topics in context.
  • A Focus Problem presenting a current real-world issue introduces each cycle. They can be solved in groups and enable students to apply knowledge gained throughout the cycle to a larger, more involved problem that does not have just one correct solution.
  • A spiraled approach means topics are not intended to be fully mastered when first encountered; instead, they are revisited throughout the cycles, in more depth or from a different perspective.

New and updated features of this title

  • Active Examples replace the Worked Examples to retain the active learning approach that many users like about the text. With Active Examples, the full solutions of these examples were removed from the printed text so that students in class can be guided by their instructors, working through rather than passively reading them.  
  • Icons denoting group, whole class or individual work along with time estimates have been added to the Explore, Discover, Connect, and Reflect parts of a section, visible only to instructors.
  • The amount of practice was evaluated and increased if needed by the addition of problems in the section or the addition of Need More Practice? margin notes. 
  • A new Cycle 0 has been added to address the review of prealgebra content for students who may be underprepared, or courses where review of prerequisites is necessary. 
  • In the News  replaces Getting Ready from the previous edition to appear after the Mid-Cycle Recap. Instead of including a full article in the text, citations for multiple articles are provided to give instructors options. Questions are included for students to answer.  
  • A new focus problem is provided for each section. New focus problems include the package with rubric, writing template, and sample solution for instructors. 

Features of MyLab Math for the 3rd Edition

  • The eText  includes text and video solutions to all Active Examples, giving students a worked example to reference, but not during class when they're meant to actively solve them.
  • For instructors who want homework completed only in MyLab Math, assignable exercises cover all of the Skills exercises from the text, along with most of the Conceptual and Applications questions from the text. A larger pool of exercises supports a variety of course formats. 
  • Videos in the course have been updated where necessary to reflect updates from the text. Videos walk students through examples, giving them an extra opportunity to reinforce and practice skills and concepts, and give instructors added flexibility and resources for various class formats.

Features of Pearson eText for the 3rd Edition

  • The eText  includes text and video solutions to all Active Examples, giving students a worked example to reference, but not during class when they're meant to actively solve them.

CYCLE ZERO Which type of number?

  • SELF-ASSESSMENT: PREVIEW
    • 0.1 If the World Were a Village: Focus Problem
    • 0.2 Keeping It Real: Types of Numbers and Rounding
      • Identify types of real numbers
      • Round whole numbers
    • 0.3 It's All Relative: Integers and Their Operations
      • Interpret integers
      • Add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers
      • Solve application problems involving integers
    • 0.4 Part and Whole: Rational Numbers and Their Operations
      • Interpret fractions
      • Add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions
      • In the News: Which SPF is Best?
    • 0.5 What's the Point? Decimals and Their Operations
      • Interpret decimals
      • Round decimals
      • Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals
    • 0.6 On the Grid: Percent Representations and Calculations
      • Convert between fractions, decimal values, and percents
      • Calculate the base, amount, or percent in a percent problem
      • Calculate percent change
      • Cycle 0 Study Sheet
      • Self-Assessment: Review
      • Cycle 0 Wrap-Up

CYCLE ONE Where do we start?

  • SELF-ASSESSMENT: PREVIEW
    • 1.1 Understanding the Opioid Epidemic: Focus Problem
    • 1.2 Getting Started: Reviewing Prealgebra
      • Use Venn diagrams
      • Solve applied problems involving fractions
    • 1.3 Hello, My Name Is: Graphing Points
      • Plot ordered pairs
      • Determine the coordinates of a point
      • Create and interpret line graphs
    • 1.4 A Tale of Two Numbers: Ratios and Proportions
      • Interpret ratios
      • Scale ratios to produce equivalent ratios
      • Determine if quantities are proportional
    • 1.5 Chances Are: Probability Basics
      • Find relative frequencies
      • Find and interpret experimental probabilities
    • 1.6 An Ounce of Prevention: Means
      • Find and interpret the mean of a set of numbers
      • Use means in applied problems
    • 1.7 Picture This: Making and Interpreting Graphs
      • Create and interpret pie graphs
      • Create and interpret bar graphs
      • Mid-Cycle Recap
      • In the News: Understanding Infection and Mortality Rates
    • 1.8 Two by Two: Scatterplots
      • Create and interpret scatterplots
      • Sketch a curve to best fit a scatterplot
    • 1.9 Multiply vs. Divide: Converting Units
      • Convert units by multiplying or dividing
    • 1.10 Up and Down: Percent Change
      • Apply a percent change
      • Interpret percent change
    • 1.11 The X Factor: Algebraic Terminology
      • Differentiate between variables and constants
      • Differentiate between expressions and equations
      • Differentiate between factors and terms
    • 1.12 General Number: Recognizing Patterns
      • Make conjectures and generalize patterns
      • Identify and use arithmetic and geometric sequences
    • 1.13 Social Network: Linear and Exponential Change
      • Model change with linear and exponential functions
    • 1.14 Infinity and Beyond: Perimeter and Area
      • Calculate perimeter and area
      • Cycle 1 Study Sheet
      • Self-Assessment: Review
      • Cycle 1 Wrap-Up

CYCLE TWO How does that work?

  • SELF-ASSESSMENT: PREVIEW
    • 2.1 Genetic Probabilities: Focus Problem
    • 2.2 Rule of Thumb: Weighted Means
      • Find and interpret weighted means
      • Find the median and mode of a data set
    • 2.3 Measure Up: Basic Exponent Rules
      • Apply basic exponent rules
      • Use geometric formulas
    • 2.4 Count Up: Adding Polynomials
      • Identify and add like terms
    • 2.5 A Winning Formula: Applying Order of Operations
      • Use the order of operations to simplify expressions
      • Evaluate formulas and expressions
    • 2.6 Does Order Matter?: Rewriting Expressions
      • Apply the commutative and associative properties
    • 2.7 Fair Share: Distributive Property
      • Apply the distributive property to expressions
      • Use the distributive property in applied contexts
    • 2.8 Seat Yourself: Equivalent Expressions
      • Write an expression to represent a scenario
      • Determine if two expressions are equivalent by using the commutative, associative, and distributive properties
    • 2.9 Parts of Speech: Using Operations Correctly
      • Distinguish between an operator and an object
      • Determine the object on which an operator is acting
      • Recognize when the distributive property can be applied
      • Mid-Cycle Recap
      • In the News: Misorder of Operations
    • 2.10 A Fine Balance: Verifying Solutions
      • Verify a solution to an equation
    • 2.11 Back and Forth: Writing and
      • Solving One-Step Equations
      • Write and solve one-step equations
    • 2.12 Maintaining Balance: More Equation Solving
      • Solve multi-step linear equations
    • 2.13 Quarter Wing Night: Writing and Solving Equations
      • Write an equation to model a situation
      • Solve a problem numerically and algebraically
    • 2.14 Outwit and Outlast: Using Proportions
      • Write and solve proportions
    • 2.15 Three of a Kind: Pythagorean Theorem
      • Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of a side in a right triangle
      • Solve problems using the Pythagorean theorem
    • 2.16 What Are the Odds?: Theoretical Probability
      • Calculate theoretical probabilities
      • Compare theoretical and experimental probabilities
    • 2.17 Size Up: Volume and Surface Area
      • Calculate volume and surface area
      • Cycle 2 Study Sheet
      • Self-Assessment: Review
      • Cycle 2 Wrap-Up

CYCLE THREE When is it worth it?

  • SELF-ASSESSMENT: PREVIEW
    • 3.1 Growing Money: Focus Problem
    • 3.2 What's Trending: Correlation
      • Determine if data has a positive or negative linear correlation
      • Graph the equation of the trendline
      • Use the equation of the trendline to make predictions
    • 3.3 Constant Change: Slope
      • Find the slope of a line from points, tables, and graphs
      • Find and interpret slope in applications
    • 3.4 Shortest Path: Distance Formula
      • Use the distance formula to find the distance between two points
    • 3.5 Get in Line: Slope-Intercept Form
      • Find and interpret the slope and y-intercept from a linear equation
      • Graph a line using a table and using the slope and y-intercept
    • 3.6 More or Less: Linear Relationships
      • Solve problems using linear equations, tables, and graphs
    • 3.7 Chain, Chain, Chain: Writing Linear Equations
      • Write the equation of a line using a point and the slope
      • Write the equation of a line using two points
      • Create a linear model in an applied problem
    • 3.8 Going Viral: Exponential Functions
      • Write the equation of an exponential function using a starting value and rate of change
      • Graph exponential functions
      • Model with exponential functions
      • Mid-Cycle Recap 348
      • In the News: Misleading Headlines
    • 3.9 Untangling the Knot: Solving Nonlinear Equations
      • Solve nonlinear equations
    • 3.10 Hot and Cold: Rewriting Formulas
      • Solve an equation for a specified variable
    • 3.11 A Common Goal: Greatest Common Factors
      • Identify the greatest common factor for the terms in an expression
      • Factor an expression using the greatest common factor
    • 3.12 Thinking Outside the Box: Factoring Quadratic Expressions
      • Factor quadratic expressions
    • 3.13 A Formula for Success: The Quadratic Formula
      • Use the quadratic formula to solve equations
    • 3.14 The Turning Point: Quadratic Functions
      • Identify a quadratic pattern in data
      • Find the vertex of a parabola
    • 3.15 Systematic Thinking: Graphing and Substitution
      • Solve a 2 x 2 linear system of equations by graphing
      • Solve a 2 x 2 linear system of equations by substitution
    • 3.16 Opposites Attract: Elimination
      • Solve a 2 x 2 linear system of equations by elimination
      • Cycle 3 Study Sheet
      • Self-Assessment: Review
      • Cycle 3 Wrap-Up

CYCLE FOUR What else can we do?

  • SELF-ASSESSMENT: PREVIEW
    • 4.1 Scale Matters: Focus Problem
    • 4.2 A Matter of Change: Dimensional Analysis
      • Convert units using dimensional analysis
    • 4.3 Little Giants: Scientific and Engineering Notation
      • Convert numbers between scientific and standard notation
      • Convert numbers into and out of engineering notation
    • 4.4 A Model Approach: Negative Exponents
      • Use exponent rules to simplify expressions that have negative exponents
    • 4.5 Variation on a Theme: Standard Deviation
      • Find the standard deviation of a data set
      • Interpret the standard deviation of a data set
    • 4.6 An Order of Magnitude: Understanding Logarithmic Scales
      • Interpret and use order of magnitude
      • Interpret and use logarithmic scales
      • Mid-Cycle Recap
      • In the News: Measuring Variation
    • 4.7 Straight to the Point: Direct Variation
      • Identify direct variation from a graph, table, or equation
      • Write models for direct variation problems
      • Solve direct variation problems
    • 4.8 Gas Up and Go: Inverse Variation
      • Identify inverse variation from a table or equation
      • Write models for inverse variation problems
      • Solve inverse variation problems
    • 4.9 Ghost in the Machine: Function Notation
      • Use function notation
      • Find a function input or output given the other
    • 4.10 What's Your Function?: Vertical Line Test, Domain, and Range
      • Apply the vertical line test
      • Find the domain and range from a graph or an equation
    • 4.11 An Important Point: Vertex Form of a Quadratic Function
      • Identify the vertex of a quadratic function in vertex form
      • Graph a quadratic function in vertex form
      • Write the vertex form of a quadratic function given the vertex and a point
    • 4.12 A Survey of Trig: Trigonometric Functions
      • Write the six trigonometric ratios for an acute angle
      • Use trigonometric functions to find the measures of sides and angles of a right triangle
      • Cycle 4 Study Sheet
      • Self-Assessment: Review
      • Cycle 4 Wrap-Up

Excel Appendix (online in MyLab Math only)

Answers (online in MyLab Math only)

Index

Applications Index

About our authors

Kathleen Almy has been a professor of mathematics at Rock Valley College for over 10 years and has taught high school- and college-level math for 15 years. She has a bachelor's degree in mathematics education from Southern Illinois University and master's degree in pure mathematics from Northern Illinois University. Her passion is improving developmental math for all students, including the development of courses and content that is appropriate, relevant and meaningful. As her department's developmental math coordinator, she organized and led a successful comprehensive redesign of the program. As a result of giving talks about the redesign, she has been consulting with colleges throughout Illinois and across the country to improve their developmental math programs. Since 2009, she has been a member of AMATYC's Quantway project which is affiliated with the Carnegie Foundation.  She was AMATYC's Developmental Math Committee chair and serves on several state committees on developmental education. 

Heather Foes is currently a professor of mathematics at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois and has also taught at Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois. Heather has a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics and a master's degree in mathematics from Illinois State University. She has written solution manuals and other supplemental materials over the last ten years, as well as algorithmic questions for test-generator software and conceptual questions for  MyLab Statistics for Pearson. 

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