College of Science,

Technology
And Applied Arts
Of Trinidad and Tobago
School of continuing education and lifelong learning
Developmental Mathematics
Course Syllabus and Outline
Course Code: Math 091

Course Title: Pre-Algebra

Number of Credits:
Lecturer’s Name:

E-Mail Address:

Telephone No:
Class Hours per week: 3 hours
Duration: 45 Hours
Campus Location:

Recommended Text Book:

Developmental Mathematics: Basic Mathematics and Algebra 2nd Edition
Lial, Hornsby, McGinnis, Salzman, and Hestwood

Purpose of Course:

This course is intended for students who have either never been exposed to arithmetic or
who have been away from the subject for quite some time, as well as those students seeking
CXC Math equivalence. The course is designed to improve and review skills and concepts,
as well as cultivate an appreciation for operations on numbers. Pre-Algebra will provide the
mathematical foundation for continued studies and success in college math and other areas.

June 2013 1
General Objectives:

In this course, students will:

1. Engage in new, creative and challenging ways of learning.

2. Gain a greater awareness of one’s own abilities in mathematics.
3. Increase one’s level of comfort with math’s place in the world.
4. Develop number sense and the ability to represent numbers in a variety of forms as
well as use numbers in diverse situations.
5. Use a variety of estimation strategies and will be able to recognize situations in which
estimation is appropriate.
6. Develop reasoning ability and become self reliant, independent mathematical
thinkers.
7. Be able to link mathematics to other learning by understanding the interrelationship
of mathematical ideas and the roles the mathematics play in one’s personal and
professional life.
8. Interpret and communicate mathematical symbols and notation through oral,
symbolic, written and visual forms of expressions.
9. Develop the ability to pose and solve problems in mathematics and other authentic
situations.
10. Develop an understanding of Arithmetic concepts and processes, and will be able to
use them to determine the relations among variable quantities in order to solve
problems.
11. Determine how mathematics provides a language for the sciences; plays a role in art,
music, and literature; is applied by economists; is used in business and
manufacturing; and has had an impact on history.
12. Develop ideas on the basis of past experiences and intuition and test these ideas by
using probabilistic and statistical reasoning.

June 2013 2
Module 1: Whole Numbers

Session 1
At the end of this session, the student will be able to:
 Understand and use the place value system and expanded notation
 Understand and use the fundamental properties of addition of whole numbers
(including use of number line or another analogy)
 Understand and use the fundamental properties of subtraction of whole numbers
(including use of number line or another analogy)
 Understand and use the fundamental properties of multiplication of whole numbers
 Understand the concept of divisibility
 Understand and use the fundamental properties of division involving whole numbers
including zero (use both long division and short division methods).
 Understand and use the relationship between division and multiplication.
 Apply these concepts of whole numbers to problem solving.

Homework: Kuta – Pre-Algebra

Basics – Reading & Writing Whole Numbers
Number Theory – Divisibility and Factors

Session 2

At the end of this session, the student will be able to:

 Interpret and perform arithmetic operations on whole numbers by correctly
following the accepted order of operations in expressions
 Round off whole numbers to a specified number of significant figures
 Estimate sums, differences and products of whole numbers using rounding and front
end rounding
 Define the terms base, exponent or power
 Understand and use natural number exponents a3 = a x a x a , etc. (positive, whole
number indices only)
 Understand and use the concept of the square root of a number
 Interpret and perform arithmetic operations involving exponents and square roots
on whole numbers by correctly following the accepted order of operations in
expressions
 Apply these concepts of whole numbers to problem solving.

Homework: Kuta
Pre-Algebra: Arithmetic – Order of Operations, Variable and Verbal expressions, Rounding
Numbers
Worded Problems – One-step equation word problems (selected questions),
Two-step equation word problems
Exponents and Radicals – Multiplication property of exponents,
Division property of exponents
Algebra I: Basics – Order of Operations

June 2013 3
Module 2: Multiplying and Dividing Fractions

Session 3:
At the end of this module, the student will be able to:
 Define fraction terminology
 Understand fractions and fraction notation
 Understand and interpret basic facts about fractions
 Express a whole or a mixed number as an improper fraction
 Express an improper fraction as a whole or mixed number
 Create equivalent fractions: convert to higher terms, reduce to lowest terms
 Understand and use “less than” and “greater than” symbols
 Compare and order fractions on a number line by creating equivalent fractions
 Perform multiplication involving proper fractions
 Apply fraction multiplication to solve word problems
 Understand and interpret the reciprocal of a number
 Perform division involving proper fractions
 Apply fraction division to solve word problems
 Perform fraction multiplication and division involving mixed numbers.

Homework: Kuta – Pre-Algebra

Arithmetic – Multiplying and dividing fractions and mixed numbers
(selected questions)
Number Theory – Factoring numbers

Session 4:

Assessment 1 (25%) containing material covered in Module1 & 2.

June 2013 4
Module 3: Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Session 5:
At the end of this module, the student will be able to:
 Define like and unlike fractions
 Perform addition and subtraction involving like fractions
 Apply number theory concepts including factors, multiples, divisors and primes
 Use a factor tree to find the prime factorization of a given number
 Calculate the Lowest Common Multiple and Greatest Common Factor of a list of
numbers
 Perform addition and subtraction of unlike fractions and use these operations to
solve word problems
 Perform addition and subtraction of mixed numbers and use these operations to
solve word problems
 Interpret and perform arithmetic operations on mixed numbers by correctly
following the accepted order of operations in expressions.

Homework: Kuta – Pre-Algebra

Number Theory – Factoring numbers, Greatest Common Factor, Least
Common Multiple
Arithmetic – Adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers
(selected questions)
Word Problems – One – step equation word problems (selected questions)

June 2013 5
Module 4: Decimals
Session 6:
At the end of this module, the student will be able to:
 Understand and use the place value system for decimal fractions
 Convert decimals to fractions or mixed numbers
 Round off numbers to a specified number of decimal places and significant figures
 Perform addition and subtraction of decimals
 Perform multiplication and division of decimals
 Understand and use multiplication of decimals by powers of 10
 Understand and use division of decimals by powers of 10
 Convert fractions and mixed numbers to decimals
 Compare and order decimals and fractions on a number line
 Interpret and perform arithmetic operations on decimals by correctly following the
accepted order of operations in expressions and use these to solve word problems

Homework: Kuta – Pre-Algebra

Basics – Naming decimal places
Arithmetic – Converting between fractions and decimals
Adding and subtracting decimals (selected questions)
Multiplying decimals (selected questions)

Session 7:

Assessment 2 (25%) containing material covered in Modules 3 &4.

Module 5: Ratio and Proportion

Session 8:
At the end of this module, the student will be able to:
 Define and understand ratios
 Define and understand rates
 Understand and find unit rates
 Define and understand proportions
 Understand the fundamental property of proportions
 Apply ratios, rates and proportions to problem solving.

Homework: Kuta – Pre-Algebra

Proportions and Percents – Proportions
Proportion word problems
June 2013 6
Module 6: Percent

Session 9:
At the end of this module, the student will be able to:
 Understand and interpret the meaning of percent
 Convert a percent to a decimal or fraction
 Convert decimals and fractions to percents
 Calculate a requested percent of a given number
 Understand and use the Percent Proportion (calculate unknowns)
 Solve application problems using percents including sales tax, commissions,
discounts and mark-ups

Session 10:

 Use and apply the concept of hire-purchase to solve application problems.

 Use the simple interest formula to calculate amount of interest ( also any unknown
values eg. principal, rate, time etc.)
 Calculate compounded amounts and interest using first principles up to three years
 Compare simple interest and compound interest to determine the better option.

Homework: Kuta
Pre-Algebra Arithmetic – Converting between percents, fractions and decimals
Proportion & Percents – Percent problems straightforward
Finding percent change (mark-up,discount & tax)
Simple and compound interest
Algebra I Basics – Percent of change
Equations – Percent problems

Session 11:

Assessment 3 (25%) containing material covered in Modules 5 & 6

June 2013 7
Module 7: Statistics

Session 12:

At the end of this session, the student will be able to:

 Read and interpret tables
 Read and understand pictographs, bar graphs and line graphs
 Read and interpret information presented in a circle graph
 Effectively use a protractor
 Construct circle graphs
 Read and interpret information presented in a bar graph and double-bar graph
 Construct simple bar graphs and double bar graphs
 Read and interpret information presented in a line graph and a comparison line
graph

Homework: Chapter 8 – Page 596: Test Your Word Power

(Text) Page 601: Review Exercises (R.E.)

Session 13:

At the end of this session, the student will be able to:

 Understand and interpret a frequency distribution
 Prepare a simple frequency distribution table for a given set of data
 Construct a grouped frequency table for a given set of data
 Construct a simple histogram.
 Understand, interpret and calculate the mean and weighted mean of a given set of
data
 Understand, interpret and calculate the median of a given set of data
 Understand, interpret and find the mode of a given set of data
 Determine which measure of central tendency is most appropriate in various
situations

Homework: Chapter 8 – Page 596: Test Your Word Power

(Text) Page 601: Review Exercises (R.E.)

June 2013 8
Module 8: Measurement

Session 14:
At the end of this session, the student will be able to:
 Review metric units
 Convert one SI unit to another for linear, mass and temperature measurements
 Calculate scales using ratios and create scale models of buildings and structures
 Apply these concepts to problem solving.

Homework:
Kuta – Pre-Algebra Proportions and Percents – Similar Figure
word problems (selected questions)

Text - Appendix A Exercises A.1, A.2, A.3, and A.4

Note: Students will be provided with
appropriate measurement charts

Session 15:

Assessment 4 (25%) containing material covered in Modules 7 & 8

June 2013 9
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT

Assessment 1 25%
Assessment 2 25%
Assessment 3 25%
Assessment 4 25%
Total 100%

A student must obtain 60% or higher to pass this course.

GRADING SYSTEM

Symbol Range Definitions Department Performance

Criteria
A 90-100 Exceptional Exemplary
B+ 85-89 Very Good Competent
B 80-84 Good
C+ 75-79 Satisfactory Emerging
C 70-74 Satisfactory
D+ 65-69 Passing
D 60-64 Passing
F 0-59.9 Failure/Unsuccessful Unacceptable
completion of course

June 2013 10