Prealgebra with P.O.W.E.R. Learning

Sherri Messersmith’s successful hardcover franchise is expanded with the new softcover P.O.W.E.R. series. The conversational writing style, practical applications, innovative student resources and student friendly walk through of examples that users of the hard cover books noted and appreciated are also found in the pages of the P.O.W.E.R. series. The P.O.W.E.R. Framework What makes P.O.W.E.R. a unique tool for the classroom? A major challenge in developmental courses is that students at this level struggle with basic study skills and habits. Maybe this is one of their first college courses or perhaps they are adults returning to school after a long absence. Either way, many of the individuals taking this course don’t know how to be good students. Instructors often don’t have the time, the resources or the expertise to teach success skills AND the math concepts. The new team of Messersmith, Perez and Feldman offer a scientifically based approach to meet this challenge. The P.O.W.E.R. Learning Framework was developed by successful author, psychologist, student success instructor and researcher, Bob Feldman. It is a method of accomplishing any task using five simple and consistent steps. Prepare. Organize. Work. Evaluate. Rethink. This framework is integrated at every level of the text to help students successfully learn math concepts while at the same time developing habits that will serve them well throughout their college careers and in their daily lives. The Math Mastering Concepts--With the textbook and Connect Math hosted by ALEKS, students can practice and master their understanding of algebraic concepts.Messersmith is rigorous enough to prepare students for the next level yet easy to read and understand. The exposition is written as if a professor is teaching in a lecture to be more accessible to students. The language is mathematically sound yet easy enough for students to understand.

Table of Contents:
Prealgebra with P.O.W.E.R. Learning, First Edition Chapter 1: Operations with Integers Section 1.1Place Value and Rounding Section 1.2Introduction to Integers Section 1.3Adding Integers Section 1.4Subtracting Integers Section 1.5Estimating a Sum or Difference Section 1.6Multiplying Integers and Estimation Section 1.7Dividing Integers and Estimation Putting It All Together Section 1.8Exponents, Roots, and Order of Operations Chapter 1 Summary Chapter 1 Review Chapter 1 Test Chapter 2: Variables and Solving Equations Section 2.1Introduction to Variables Section 2.2Simplifying Expressions Section 2.3Solving Equations Using the Addition Property of Equality Section 2.4Solving Equations Using the Division Property of Equality Section 2.5More on Solving Equations Section 2.6Applications Involving One Unknown Section 2.7Applications Involving Two Unknowns Chapter Summary Chapter 2 Review Chapter 2 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-2 Chapter 3: Operations with Signed Fractions Study Strategies: Time Management Section 3.1Introduction to Signed Fractions Section 3.2Writing Fractions in Lowest Terms Section 3.3Multiplying and Dividing Signed Fractions Section 3.4Adding and Subtracting Like Fractions and Finding a Least Common Denominator Section 3.5Adding and Subtracting Unlike Fractions Section 3.6Operations with Mixed Numbers Putting It All Together Section 3.7Order Relations and Order of Operations Section 3.8Solving Equations Containing Fractions Group Activity emPOWERme: Find Your Procrastination Quotient Chapter Summary Chapter 3 Review Chapter 3 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-3 Chapter 4: Basic Geometry Concepts Section 4.1 Introduction to Geometry Section 4.2Rectangles, Squares, Parallelograms, and Trapezoids Section 4.3Triangles Section 4.4Volume and Surface Area Putting It All Together Section 4.5Solving Geometry Applications Using Algebra Chapter Summary Chapter 4 Review Chapter 4 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-4 Chapter 5: Signed Decimals Study Strategies: Taking Math Tests Section 5.1Reading and Writing Decimals Section 5.2Rounding Decimals Section 5.3Adding and Subtracting Signed Decimals Section 5.4Multiplying Signed Decimals Section 5.5Dividing Signed Decimals and Order of Operations Putting It All Together Section 5.6Writing Fractions as Decimals Section 5.7Mean, Median, and Mode Section 5.8Solving Equations Containing Decimals Section 5.9Square Roots and the Pythagorean Theorem Section 5.10Circles, Spheres, Cylinders, and Cones Group Activity emPOWERme: Is Anxiety the Hardest Problem on the Test? Chapter Summary Chapter 5 Review Chapter 5 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-5 Chapter 6: Ratios and Proportions Section 6.1Ratios Section 6.2Rates Section 6.3Proportions Section 6.4Solve Proportions Section 6.5Solve Applied Problems Involving Proportions Section 6.6Angles Section 6.7Solve Applied Problems Involving Congruent and Similar Triangles Chapter Summary Chapter 6 Review Chapter 6 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-6 Chapter 7: Measurement and Conversion Section 7.1Conversions Within the U.S. Measurement System Section 7.2The Metric System: Length Section 7.3The Metric System: Capacity and Weight (Mass) Section 7.4Solve Applied Problems Involving Metric Units Section 7.5Metric – U.S. Customary Conversions and Temperature Chapter Summary Chapter 7 Review Chapter 7 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-7 Chapter 8: Percents Section 8.1Percents, Fractions, and Decimals Section 8.2Compute Basic Percents Mentally Section 8.3Use an Equation to Solve Percent Problems Section 8.4Solve Applications Involving Percents Putting It All Together Section 8.5More Applications with Percents Section 8.6Simple and Compound Interest Chapter Summary Chapter 8 Review Chapter 8 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-8 Chapter 9: Graphs and the Rectangular Coordinate System Section 9.1Reading Tables, Pictographs, Bar Graphs, and Line Graphs Section 9.2Frequency Distributions and Histograms Section 9.3Using and Making Circle Graphs Section 9.4Introduction to Linear Equations in Two Variables Section 9.5Graphing Linear Equations in Two Variables Chapter Summary Chapter 9 Review Chapter 9 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-9 Chapter 10: The Rules of Exponents and Polynomials Section 10.1The Product Rule and Power Rules Section 10.2Integer Exponents and the Quotient Rule Section 10.3Scientific Notation Putting It All Together Section 10.4Adding and Subtracting Polynomials Section 10.5Multiplying Polynomials Chapter Summary Chapter 10 Review Chapter 10 Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1-10 Appendix A: Whole Number Arithmetic Section A.1Adding Whole Numbers Section A.2Subtracting Whole Numbers Section A.3Multiplying Whole Numbers Section A.4Introduction to Division and Short Division Section A.5Long Division Appendix B Section B.1Sets of Numbers Section B.2Graphing Inequalities Section B.3Deriving the Area of a Parallelogram and the Area of a Triangle Section B.4Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

About the Author :
Sherri Messersmith has been teaching at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, since 1994. She has over 25 years of experience teaching many different courses from developmental mathematics through calculus. She earned a bachelor of science degree in the teaching of mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and went on to teach at the high level for two years. Sherri returned to UIUC and earned a master of science in applied mathematics and stayed on at the university to teach and coordinate large sections of undergraduate math courses. Sherri has authored several textbook, and she has also appeared in videos accompanying several McGraw-Hill texts. Sherri lives outside of Chicago with her husband, Phil, and their daughters, Alex and Cailen. In her precious free time, she likes to read, play the guitar, and travel -- the manuscripts for this and her previous books have accompanied her from Spain to Greece and many points in between. Bob Feldman still remembers those moments of being overwhelmed when he started college at Wesleyan University. “I wondered whether I was up to the challenges that faced me,” he recalls, “and—although I never would have admitted it at the time—I really had no idea what it took to be successful at college.” That experience, along with his encounters with many students during his own teaching career, led to a life-long interest in helping students navigate the critical transition that they face at the start of their own college careers. Professor Feldman, who went on to receive a doctorate in psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is now Deputy Chancellor and Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is founding director of POWER Up for Student Success, the first-year experience course for incoming students. Professor Feldman’s proudest professional accomplishment is winning the College Outstanding Teaching Award at UMass. He also has been named a Hewlett Teaching Fellow and was Senior Online Instruction Fellow. He has taught courses at Mount Holyoke College, Wesleyan University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Professor Feldman is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a winner of a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer award and has written over 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and books. His books, some of which have been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, and Chinese, include Improving the First Year of College: Research and Practice; Understanding Psychology, 12/e; and Development Across the Life Span, 7/e. His research interests encompass the study of honesty and truthfulness in everyday life, development of nonverbal behavior in children, and the social psychology of education. His research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research. With the last of his three children completing college, Professor Feldman occupies his spare time with pretty decent cooking and earnest, but admittedly unpolished, piano playing. He also loves to travel. He lives with his wife, who is an educational psychologist, in a home overlooking the Holyoke mountain range in western Massachusetts.