Book 4 - Elementary School Math for a Flying University

By Clarence Thompson

I am pleased to announce that we now have Book 4 of our Elementary School Math series online.  It can be found under our "Math Resources" page on this site.  We will probably make a few minor modifications to the book over the next week, mainly consisting of adding some extra problems to Chapter 1.

The book covers the following topics:

• Mathematical Expressions - we start by showing how to build expressions using numerals and operators.  We then proceed to introducing variables and show how to turn simple word problems into mathematical expressions involving a mix of numerals and variables.  We end with a discussion of a few common formulas.

• Inequalities, Rounding and Estimating - we begin by introducing the concept of inequality and the inequality symbols, along with introducing the number line and the concept of the set of natural numbers.  From there we introduce the concept of and justification for rounding, along with the use of rounding in performing rapid estimation of the value of mathematical expressions.

• Word Problems - we show how basic arithmetic can be used to solve a large number of real-life problems (including the problems encountered in dealing with predatory people!)

Our weekly teaching sessions are also going well.  I hope to be able to post some new videos next weekend.