Fundamentals of Math [seventh grade]

by Hal C. Oberholzer II

Bob Jones University Press

This BJUP math text, intended for seventh grade, reflects the new math standards’ emphases on applications, interpretation of graphs, and facility with rounding numbers and estimating, but it is balanced with solid review of foundational arithmetic skills. The two-volume teacher’s edition provides lesson introductions and enhancements that should be presented by the teacher, but most of the time the key ideas are already covered within the student’s textbook lesson. This means that most of the time, but not always, students can work independently through the text on their own. Occasionally, a key concept or piece of information only appears in the teacher’s edition and must be presented to the student by some means.

Each chapter is introduced with an inspiring biographical sketch on figures such as Charles Babbage, inventor of the analytical engine, forerunner to the computer, and Charles Lindbergh, praised for his perseverance and courage in both his aviation feats and later inventions.

Unlike Saxon’s program, this text addresses a separate topic within each chapter. Cumulative review occurs only at the end of each of the fifteen chapters. Arithmetic basics are reviewed in the first two chapters, decimals and scientific notation are covered in chapters 3 and 4, geometry is introduced in chapter 5, and extensive work with fractions takes up the next 3 chapters. Remaining chapters tackle equations, ratios/proportion/percent, application of percent, integers, perimeter/area/volume, measurement, sets, and statistics. The chapter on using percent features consumer applications such as sales tax, discounts, sale prices, simple interest, and commission.

Chapters are broken down into subsections (about 8 to 9 subsections per chapter). Each subsection includes exercises for students to complete, but questions pertain only to the topic taught in that section.

A quiz for each section appears in the margin of the teacher’s edition. The quiz might be copied onto paper or a whiteboard or chalkboard for the student. Answers are given next to the questions. The student text has both a chapter review and a cumulative review at the end of each chapter. Another end-of-chapter feature is lessons for solving word problems. A separate test packet includes quizzes, chapter tests and cumulative tests. It has its own answer key. Both items are included in the homeschool kit along with the student text and teachers edition.

The level of difficulty is approximately equal to Saxon’s Math 87 and slightly more difficult than Math 76, although the content differs slightly, with the aforementioned emphases on graphs, estimation, and applications in the BJUP text being the most obvious.