Course Description:

This class is designed for students moving from Algebra II to IAC (particularly those who want to take the honors version of the class) and will prepare them for the wide variety of subjects in IAC — some of which are not clearly related to each other. Topics include: functions (definition, motivation, and behavior); specific algebraic tricks that show up often in IAC (e.g. factoring & canceling to identify holes in rational functions); permutations & combinations, as well as a preview of trigonometry (unit circle, radians, standard trig functions [sin/cos/tan], some basic identities). If time allows, we will also cover matrices, vectors, logarithmic modeling, and limits.

IAC is a notoriously challenging course, and students often struggle to both learn and competently use all the new material they learn. By teaching many of the key concepts of IAC in advance, this course is designed to take some of the pressure off of the learning process during the academic year.