AoPS Intermediate Algebra and PreCalc?

[Taz007]

Has anyone taken or completed AoPS Intermediate Algebra and PreCalc at the same time? Would this be possible or would it be too much?

[Lilaclady]

Will you be doing the books by themselves or taking the classes. Both classes are quite intense and i will not advise taking them together but I don't know the whole situation.

 

If the child will only be doing those and not much else then it is possible but with a full load, it will be too much.

 

Doing the books together too will not be advised as the precalculus builds on information from the intermediate algebra

[Taz007]

Thank you!

 

He is doing the Int. Algebra book on his own now and wants to attend the PreCalc class in April. He will be about 3/4 of the way through Algebra when the PreCalc class begins.

[regentrude]

He is doing the Int. Algebra book on his own now and wants to attend the PreCalc class in April. He will be about 3/4 of the way through Algebra when the PreCalc class begins.

 

He does not need to finish Intermediate Algebra in order to be ready for precalc. If he wants to take precalc, he can just put Intermediate Algebra on ice and come back to it later - or skip the last few chapters which center on competition math and are not typically taught in high school anyway.

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by regentrude

[Mike in SA]

If he hasn't already covered algebra 2, I'd make sure that content is covered first, then do just as suggested above.  It is not necessary to complete the intermediate algebra book to succeed in precalculus.  It covers a lot of college algebra, which will be reviewed where necessary, anyway.

 

 

[Taz007]

He took AoPS Introduction to Algebra courses, both A and B, and did very well. Will this be enough?

[Lilaclady]

I think if he has completed 3/4 of int. algebra then it should be enough. Has he done geometry?

[Taz007]

Yes, sort of. He will have completed the geometry course, online, in about 5 weeks.

[Mike in SA]

He took AoPS Introduction to Algebra courses, both A and B, and did very well. Will this be enough?

 

Not really.  That covers the traditional algebra 1 and a few topics from algebra 2.

[regentrude]

Not really.  That covers the traditional algebra 1 and a few topics from algebra 2.

 

But it will be enough to do AoPS Precalculus. Precalc does not use anything that is taught in Intermediate Algebra. You need algebra 1 and geometry to understand trigonometry, complex numbers, and vectors.

 

Edited March 3, 2016 by regentrude

[Arcadia]

He is doing the Int. Algebra book on his own now and wants to attend the PreCalc class in April.

As long as he is not going for any residential summer camps, it would be okay.

[Mike in SA]

But it will be enough to do AoPS Precalculus. Precalc does not use anything that is taught in Intermediate Algebra. You need algebra 1 and geometry to understand trigonometry, complex numbers, and vectors.

 

 

Except for functions and conics.

 

Precalculus gives a crash review of topics from college algebra not typically covered in algebra 2, so does have a BUNCH of overlap with intermediate algebra.  But, from our experience, the AoPS precalculus expects a stronger understanding of functions than the intro to algebra book provides, and won't touch on conics at all, which is critical for calculus (though some calculus texts will cover analytic geometry).  The AoPS precal is strong in vector arithmetic, trigonometry, and complex numbers.

 

You could stop at precal and not care about conics.  Slippery slope there - no pun intended.

[regentrude]

Except for functions and conics.

 

Precalculus gives a crash review of topics from college algebra not typically covered in algebra 2, so does have a BUNCH of overlap with intermediate algebra.  But, from our experience, the AoPS precalculus expects a stronger understanding of functions than the intro to algebra book provides, and won't touch on conics at all, which is critical for calculus (though some calculus texts will cover analytic geometry).  The AoPS precal is strong in vector arithmetic, trigonometry, and complex numbers.

You could stop at precal and not care about conics.  Slippery slope there - no pun intended.

 

Could you elaborate how conics are critical for calculus?

 

I agree that conics should be covered - at some point. But they are not needed for success in Precalc; the student could cover them at any later point.

 

Functions are reviewed in the first chapter of Precalculus. The foreword recommends that students who have taken Intro to Algebra and Intermediate Algebra can skim this; students who have not use these books should study the chapter closely

(Since the OP's student is 3/4 through Intermediate, it is safe to assume that he has a thorough understanding of functions)

[Mike in SA]

 

I agree that conics should be covered - at some point. But they are not needed for success in Precalc; the student could cover them at any later point.

 

 

Agreed; if taken out of context, though, your prior comment looked like a blessing to skip those topics completely. I know that's not what was intended, so I was clarifying. Precalculus will briefly touch functions, but will miss much of the depth that intermediate algebra includes - much of which is basic to the development of calculus (not that many algebra 2 courses do an adequate job - few do - but many Precalculus courses do better than AOPS here). Comics are essential to understanding the principles of determining areas, volumes, and extrema, and helpful for basic applications throughout calculus (I've had a number of students struggle because of their deficiencies in this area).

 

And, I totally agree that taking the two courses in parallel works just fine the way they are laid out based on OP'S progress to date.

[Taz007]

He does not need to finish Intermediate Algebra in order to be ready for precalc. If he wants to take precalc, he can just put Intermediate Algebra on ice and come back to it later - or skip the last few chapters which center on competition math and are not typically taught in high school anyway.

 

 

Thank you for the responses!  I never took regentrude's statement to mean that he did not have to take Intermediate Algebra ever.  My question was if he could succeed at PreCalc while either a) studying Int. Algebra at the same time or b) swing back and do Int. Algebra after PreCalc.

 

So it appears that he can take PreCalc with Int. Algebra or take Int. Algebra after PreCalc but Int. Algebra is a MUST before Calculus.  Do I have this right?

 

Thanks again!