Learning to Factor
In mathematics, the goal of factoring is to "undo" the distributive property, or FOIL. There are 3 types of factoring that we are going to be exploring in this lesson. They are:
You will use the links on the left or buttons at the bottom of each page to navigate through different pages of the lesson to help you learn more about factoring. Factoring is an important skill to have in mathematics because eventually you will be using factoring to solve quadratic equations. You will also continue to factor as you move through higher level math classes.
Let's get started! In order to have success with factoring, there are some skills you should already have mastered from previous math classes. Click on the link to the pre-test to see what you already know! Follow the directions on the pre-test page, and once you successfully complete the pre-test activities (and appropriate reviews if necessary), you should begin completing ALL activities on the remaining pages, starting with "Greatest Common Factor" and moving downward all the way through the "Post-Test."
- Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
- Difference of Squares
- AC Method for Quadratics
You will use the links on the left or buttons at the bottom of each page to navigate through different pages of the lesson to help you learn more about factoring. Factoring is an important skill to have in mathematics because eventually you will be using factoring to solve quadratic equations. You will also continue to factor as you move through higher level math classes.
Let's get started! In order to have success with factoring, there are some skills you should already have mastered from previous math classes. Click on the link to the pre-test to see what you already know! Follow the directions on the pre-test page, and once you successfully complete the pre-test activities (and appropriate reviews if necessary), you should begin completing ALL activities on the remaining pages, starting with "Greatest Common Factor" and moving downward all the way through the "Post-Test."
Main Learning Objectives
When you have completed this lesson, you should be able to:
- identify the greatest common factor in a polynomial
- identify quadratics that are factorable using the "AC Method"
- identify polynomials that represent a difference of squares
- determine which method of factoring is appropriate for a given polynomail
- factor by finding the greatest common factor
- factor using the "AC Method"
- factor using difference of squares
- factor polynomials that require the use of more than one of the factoring methods
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