Precalculus Enhanced with Graphing Utilities, 7th Edition

Preparing for Class

• Just-in-time review begins all sections to prepare students for the topics ahead.
• Preparing for This Section lists previously learned concepts that will be useful in the section ahead. Page references are included for easy review.
• Now Work the "Are You Prepared?" problems support the Preparing for This Section feature, allowing students to check that they are ready to proceed to the section ahead or if they need to turn back for further review. These problems appear at the start of each exercise set.
• Prebuilt Quizzes for the Are You Prepared? questions are assignable in MyMathLab.
• Section-level guidance in each section helps students master the material and develop their problem-solving skills.
• Showcase Examples provide how-to instruction by offering a guided, step-by-step approach to solving a problem. Students can immediately see how each of the steps in a problem is employed. The two-column format describes the steps on the left and displays the algebra, complete with annotations, on the right.
• Model It examples are now highlighted, making it easy to identify which examples help students learn to build a mathematical model from verbal descriptions or from data. Model It exercises are also included so that instructors can assign these for homework or practice.
• Now Work Problems follow most examples, and point to a related exercise for immediate reinforcement of the skill or concept.
• Step-by-Step, Annotated Examples contain detailed intermediate steps with additional annotations to help students see specific nuances.
• Calculus icons appear next to information essential for the study of calculus. When the icon appears next to a definition, the notation used is consistent with that used in calculus.
• In Words provides alternative descriptions of select definitions and theorems, translating math into plain English.
• Warnings point out common mistakes and help students avoid them.

Practicing Skills

• Concept and Vocabulary exercises are now assignable in MyMathLab as reading quizzes.

• Assess Your Understanding appears at the end of every section and contains a variety of problems for students to master the skills they need.
• NEW! Retain Your Knowledge problems offer the type of “final exam material” that students can use to maintain their skills throughout each chapter.
• "Are You Prepared?" Problems appear at the start of every exercise set and help students determine exactly what they need to review and where to review it. This feature is referenced from the Preparing for This Section feature. Answers appear at the end of the section.
• Concepts and Vocabulary questions are fill-in-the-blank and true/false items that assess students’ understanding of key definitions and concepts. These have been written to serve as reading quizzes and are now assignable in MyMathLab^® and MathXL^®.
• Skill Building problems provide straightforward practice, are organized by difficulty, and are correlated to section examples.
• Graphical problems use graphs in a variety of ways, supplementing analytical understanding with graphical understanding.
• Now Work problems, marked by a yellow pencil icon in the exercise set, correspond to a related example within the section. If students get stuck while doing their homework, they can look for the closest Now Work problem and refer back to the related example.
• Mixed Practice problems offer comprehensive assessment of the skills learned in the section by asking questions that relate to more than one concept or objective. These problems may also require students to utilize skills learned in previous sections, helping them to see how concepts are tied together.
• Applications and Extensions allow students to apply their skills to real-world problems and to extend concepts learned in the section. These exercises have been updated and many new problems have been added, involving sourced information and data sets, to bring relevance and timeliness to these exercises.
• Model It exercises and examples are now highlighted, making it easy to identify which exercises ask students to build a mathematical model from verbal descriptions or from data.
• Explaining Concepts: Discussion and Writing problems are marked by red numbers. These support class discussion, verbalization of mathematical ideas, and writing and research projects.

Reviewing for Exams and Quizzes

• Chapter Reviews, at the end of each chapter, offer a variety of convenient tools for reference and review.
• “You Should be Able To…” is a list of every objective, by section, with corresponding practice exercises. Doing the recommended exercises allows students to master the key concepts. If they get something wrong, they can easily review the examples and exposition and try again.
• Review Exercises provide comprehensive review and practice of key skills, matched to the Learning Objectives for each section. These combine exercises from all sections, giving students comprehensive review in one place.
• Chapter Tests contain 15–20 problems that can help students prepare for in-class exams. For additional help, they can watch an instructor work out full solutions on the Chapter Test Prep Video on YouTube^™, or in MyMathLab.
• Cumulative Review problem sets appear at the end of every chapter after Chapter 1. They combine problems from previous chapters, providing an ongoing cumulative review.
• Internet-based Chapter Projects reinforce mathematical concepts, encouraging students to actively learn through research on the internet and to problem-solve using critical thinking. These projects are assignable in MyMathLab. By exploring and considering a variety of carefully guided “what-if” scenarios, students develop a better understanding of the concepts presented in the section.

Also available with MyMathLab^®

MyMathLab is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with this text to engage students and improve results. Within its structured environment, students practice what they learn, test their understanding, and pursue a personalized study plan that helps them absorb course material and understand difficult concepts.

• NEW! Guided Lecture Notes help students take thorough, organized, and understandable notes during class or while they watch the Author in Action videos. They ask students to complete definitions, procedures, and examples based on the content of the videos and text.
• NEW! Video assessment questions are tied to key Author in Action videos to check students’ conceptual understanding of important math concepts.
• NEW! With Getting Ready content, students refresh prerequisite topics through assignable skill-review quizzes and personalized homework.
• NEW! Guided Visualizations help students better understand the visual aspects of key concepts in figure format. The figures are included in MyMathLab as both a teaching and an assignable learning tool.
• NEW! Retain Your Knowledge quizzes promote ongoing review at the course level and help students maintain essential skills.
• NEW! Skills for Success Modules help students succeed in collegiate courses and prepare for future professions. Topics such as “Time Management,” “Stress Management,” and “Financial Literacy” are available for you to assign to your students.
• NEW! Functionality within the graphing utility allows graphing of 3-point quadratic functions, 4-point cubic graphs, and transformations in exercises.
• Prebuilt quizzes for the Are You Prepared? questions are assignable in MyMathLab.
• UPDATED! Concept and Vocabulary exercises are now assignable in MyMathLab as reading quizzes. Question types have been expanded to include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and true/false problems.
• Author-Solves-It MathXL Videos show Mike Sullivan III working key MathXL exercises typically requested by students for more explanation or tutoring. These videos are a result of Sullivan’s experiences in teaching online courses.

• Author-designated sample homework problems are available in MyMathLab for quick and easy assignment creation.