Polynomials and the Reverse Galley Method (Essay!)

The Common Core State Standard A-APR-1 asks students to understand that “polynomials form a system analagous to the integers.” The whole number arithmetic one learns in grade school, in particular, the area model for multiplication (and backwards, division) translates directly to polynomial algbebra.

Here is chapter 7 from my book THINKING MATHEMATICS! Vol 1: Arithmetic = Gateway to All (available at lulu.com ) which shows the how to do this arithmetic of polynomials. For early work on the arithmetic of numbers and the build up of the story to this chapter, see chapters 1 through 6.

UNIT 7: The Galley Method

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  Written for educators - and their students too! - this website, slowly growing, takes all the content Tanton has developed in his books, videos, and workshops, and organizes it into short, self-contained, and complete, curriculum units proving that mathematics, at all points of the school curriculum, can be joyous, fresh, innovative, rich, deep-thinking, and devoid of any rote doing! Let's teach generations of students to be self-reliant thinkers, willing to flail and to use their common sense to "nut their way" through challenges, to assess and judge results, and to adjust actions to find success. (Great life skills!)

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  • Encyclopedia of Mathematics
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