Algebra: Beginning and Intermediate

Getting Ready exercises provide students with guided practice on the underlying principles of various objectives.

Think About It Exercises are conceptual in nature. They ask students to think about a concept, make generalizations, and apply them to more abstract problems. The focus is on mental mathematics, not calculation or computation, and help students synthesize concepts.

Important Points are highlighted to capture students' attention. With these signposts, students are able to recognize what is most important and study more efficiently.

Prep Tests now appear at the start of each chapter. The Prep Tests will help students determine those skills in which they may already be proficient versus those skills which may need to be reviewed further before they can successfully complete the work in the upcoming chapter.

Review Your Understanding problem sets appear after Chapters 3, 6, 9, and 12 and are an opportunity for students to transition from one segment of the text to the next. Each review allows students the ability to assess their readiness to move on to a new set of topics.

Focus on Success appears at the beginning of each chapter and offers practical tips for improving study habits and performance on tests and exams.

How It's Used boxes present scenarios from the real world that demonstrate the utility of selected concepts from the text.

The Focus On feature alerts students to a specific type of problem they must master to succeed with the homework exercises or a test. These problems are accompanied by detailed explanations for each step of the solution.

The definition/key concepts boxes are newly revised. They now contain examples to illustrate how each definition or key concept applies in practice.

Try Exercise prompts are given at the end of each Example/Problem pairing and correspond with exercises in the section-ending Exercises. By following the prompts, students can immediately apply techniques presented in worked examples to homework exercises.

Concept Check exercises appear at the beginning of each section-ending exercise set. They promote conceptual understanding. Completing these exercises will help students deepen their understanding of the concepts being addressed.

In the News exercises are application exercises found throughout most sections of the text. They are based on newsworthy data and facts and are often drawn from current events.