Most "precalculus" classes include a wide range of topics, only some of which are actually preparation for calculus. That is as it should be. Yes, being ready for calculus is important: it helps keep education and career options open. But a well-rounded math education can and should include other subjects. On this page, I link to materials that belong in high school math courses beyond Algebra 2.
Basics
- If your students' grasp of Algebra 2 topics is tenuous, you may need to find interesting ways to review those ideas. Check out the materials on Making Sense in Algebra 2. In particular:
- Quadratics: Geometry-Graphing Connection | Completing the Square
- Sequences and Series
- Functions:
- Exponentials | Logarithms | Sine
- `n^(th)` Power Variation (Teachers' Guide) | Inverse Variation | Square Root
- See also: Rate of Change | Recognizing Functions | Constant Sums, Constant Products
Going Deeper
- Deeper and further:
- Quadratics: Three Paths to the Quadratic Formula | a graphical path | another graphical path
- Geometry of the Parabola: 2D | 3D | Similarity
- Complex Numbers
- Matrices
- Rate of Change: Doctor Dimension
And More!
- Expand your students' mathematical horizons!
- The Conic Sections
- Function Diagrams
- Iterating Functions
- Transformational Geometry
- Symmetry, Transformations, Dimensions: Space
- Infinite Sets, Dynamical Systems, Mathematical Induction, Fractals: Infinity