Mathematics for Elementary Teachers II begins with a review of the rational numbers and concludes the treatment of them by studying the operations of multiplication and division. The real number system, with decimals and irrational numbers is then considered to conclude the study of number systems. Knowledge about numbers and arithmetic is then generalized to a study of algebra. This treatment, which provides students with a review of high school level algebra, includes a focus on linear functions and equations. To increase their familiarity with linear functions, and as a preview of data analysis, students spend time fitting lines to data.
Some data is collected by students, and they learn how to decide if data is approximately linear.
This provides a nontrivial way to review algebra as well as learn some applications of mathematics. The course then turns to geometry. For many students, this is their first formal exposure to the subject. In the introductory material, there are many definitions. In place of lecture, small groups of students research the definition of a given set of terms and topics.