Background Tutorials

• select tools, including real objects, manipulatives, paper and pencil, and technology as appropriate, and techniques, including mental math, estimation, and number sense as appropriate, to solve problems

  • • 

    What's the Order of Operations?

    Check out this tutorial where you'll see exactly what order you need to follow when you simplify expressions. You'll also see what happens when you don't follow these rules, and you'll find out why order of operations is so important!

• use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information, formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution, and evaluating the problem-solving process and the reasonableness of the solution

  • • 

    What's an Irrational Number?

    Is an irrational number just a way to describe a number that's lost its mind? Not really. :) An irrational number is simply a number that cannot be written as a fraction. Check out the definition, learn an important property of these special numbers, and take a look at some examples of irrational numbers.

• Apply the formula for the area of regular polygons to solve problems using appropriate units of measure

  • • 

    What is the Formula for the Area of a Circle?

    Did you know that you can figure out the formula for the area of a circle by first turning the circle into a parallelogram? It seems a little weird, but it really works! Watch this tutorial to see how it's done!