Tutoring math, you’re often asked about real-world uses of it. Here’s an application we might all find useful now and again. Recently it occurred to me to look up the calorie density of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. My reasoning was …
Entering scientific notation on calculators is an important consideration. When you tutor high school sciences, you’ll want to mention it. If you’re a new arrival, you might want to read my previous post on scientific notation. Assuming you’re good with …
Tutoring physics or chemistry, you need to explain scientific notation. Scientific notation is very easy to use; it was designed to be. To start with, we need to realize the “everyday” way we write numbers is called “float” (aka “normal”). …
Financial math gets more coverage in high school now. As a math tutor, you need to explain the difference between simple and compound interest. To discuss either type of interest, we need to define some variables: A=the end amount: the …
As a math tutor, you explain the tangent ratio a few times a year. Trigonometry involves finding unknown sides and angles of triangles. At first, it only involves “right” triangles – that is, ones that contain a 90º angle. At …
When you tutor Biology 12, you cover the circulatory system. Pretty much everyone knows arteries and veins are different. However, we’ll focus on their similarities first: 1) They both contain a reinforcing layer of smooth muscle. 2) For both veins …
Tutoring Biology 12, you cover human digestion – which mentions bile. Bile is an oft-referred-to secretion: in literature, it’s related to anger. Specifically, if someone’s “bile is up”, they’re in a bad mood. I don’t understand the association, but there …
When you tutor Biology 12, which is needed for nursing, you need to define sugars and carbohydrates. Put simply, a carbohydrate is a compound consisting only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The ratio between the three is roughly 1:2:1. “Hydrate” …
When you tutor English, punctuation is a constant concern. Appropriate use of the colon can add a nice touch to a writing assignment. My wife has been questioning my use of colons for months now: “Don’t you need to follow …
Tutoring math 11 – which is needed for nursing, among other careers – you’ll need to explain how to identify the vertex of a quadratic function. Vertex form is designed to easily yield the vertex of a quadratic function. A quadratic function of …
Quadratic Functions: Finding the Vertex from Vertex Form Read more »