Zachary Blickensderfer 
North Shore Country Day School 
2018-2019 

Precalculus 15 
Course Description & Syllabus 
 
Course Mission Statement:​ Precalculus 15 is a problem-based, collaborative, conceptual 
approach to understanding those topics necessary for calculus while developing an 
understanding of justification, clarity, and logic. 
 
Enduring Understandings:  
 
1. When challenged by authentic problems and supported by meaningful relationships, 
every student can understand mathematics​. 
 
2. Collaboration and critique on problem-based work​ cultivates a genuine curiosity for 
mathematics and an overall love of learning. 
 
3. Mathematics is a group of connected ideas​, and it is best understood and appreciated 
when approached conceptually, emphasizing ideas and their meanings over procedures 
and results. 
 
4. Justification and proof​, when studied in the context of mathematics, develop logic, the 
foundation of rational thought and action. 
 
5. Simplicity, efficiency, intuition, and clarity​ enhance the study of mathematics by 
cultivating meaningful communication and effective problem-solving. 
 
   

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Our Guiding Norm: 

For the Team, Not for Yourself 
 
The most meaningful education emerges through challenging experiences shared with trusted 
peers. When pushed to the limit with the support of others, people develop in the most 
meaningful ways. No unit better facilitates this form of education than the team. In this class, 
we will be a team: a cohesive, supportive community united in common goals. Working 
together, we can create a fun, challenging, meaningful experience in this class. 
 
To accomplish the team’s goals, each individual will need to keep our guiding norm in mind at 
all times: for the team, not for yourself. This community-consciousness urges us to keep our 
egos in check. It reminds us that the group’s success is paramount. It emphasizes the 
importance of selfless thought and action. Above all else, this norm guides all other classroom 
rules, procedures, and expectations. 
 
Applications of our Guiding Norm 
 
1. The Team.​ The team refers to every member of the classroom community: you, your 
peers, and Mr. Blickensderfer. As a collaborative community, we will work together to 
achieve the team’s goals. Never in this course will you be incentivised to compete 
against another teammate; in fact, the better each individual demonstrates 
mathematical understanding, the better the team’s performance will be. 
 
2. The Squad. ​Each unit, you will belong to a sub-group of three or four teammates called 
your squad. Your squad will be your support network in collaborative activities, such as 
in-class problems and Team Tests. Should you have any questions about the 
mathematics of the course, look first to your squad for help. 
 
3. Cogens.​ You’ll see. 
 
4. Team Duties. E ​ ffective teams delegate roles to individual team members. In doing so, 
teams streamline the problem-solving process while developing a culture of 
interdependence. To support the PC15 team, you may have to play a role in the class 
throughout the year. Together, we will design and delegate the roles. 
 
5. Attendance.​ When you miss class, your squad is crippled. Absences detract from 
everyone’s learning experience by reducing our collective brainpower and perspectives. 
For this reason, attendance is crucial. If you have a compelling reason to miss class, you 
should seek approval by discussing it with the team in advance. I​ f you miss class, it is 
your responsibility to bring yourself back up to speed.​ Mr. Blickensderfer cannot teach 
you the lesson all over again, so you may need to read the chapter, review the slides, 
and watch videos to catch up. Always communicate with your squad first. 
 

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6. Preparation​. When you are unprepared for class, your teammates have to pick up the 
slack. The best teammates pull their weight for the sake of the team’s success. Thus, 
you are expected to come to class prepared to engage. Preparation includes completing 
assignments on time and bringing necessary materials to class, but it also extends to 
getting sleep and eating well. A healthy team succeeds. 
 
7. Participation​. You are expected to proactively participate in all class discussions, 
presentations and activities. Above all else, you will be expected to puzzle and 
persevere. Collaboration and communication serve a vital role, too. Do not overlook the 
importance of preparation in participation, for the former enables the latter. 
 
8. Technology.​ Keep our guiding norm in mind: if you would like to use your laptop to 
graph an equation for your squad, go for it. If you would like to use your laptop to check 
your personal email, maybe you should wait until after class. 
 
9. Extra Help. ​Mr. Blickensderfer is always happy to meet with you for extra help. 
However, it is respectful to come to meetings prepared with specific questions and 
problems to go over. Coming to extra help without a gameplan detracts from everyone’s 
experience. Feel free to reach out for help before and after class or during CWP. 
Additional assistance, by appointment, may be possible before or after school. Mr. 
Blickensderfer’s free blocks are B and G. 
 
10. Academic Responsibility.​ Mathematics is most meaningful when we find our own 
solutions. Whether working solo, in squads, or as a full team, we should produce 
original work.​ If you consult outside sources for a solution, you must make this clear by 
citing them in your solutions. A​ ll teammates should live out the rules and procedures 
regarding academic integrity as outlined in the ​Upper School Handbook.​ ​Any work in 
violation of the school’s integrity policy discredits and disheartens the team. 
   

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Course Requirements 
Overall, 300 points can be earned throughout the year. Homework will be assigned most days. 
Each of the nine units will consist of one Skills Check and will conclude with a Major 
Assessment. The tenth unit is our final project. Additionally, scores will be supplemented by a 
Squad Bonus at the end of each unit. 
 
1. Homework (10 points):​ Mathematical understanding requires procedural fluency: we 
must know the language before we can speak. Practice is needed to develop procedural 
fluency, and homework is the opportunity for that practice. Homework provides an 
opportunity to practice these procedures at your own pace. The problems will be 
straightforward and skills-oriented. Homework will never be graded for correctness, 
only for completion. 
 
2. Skills Checks (90 points)​:​ Over the course of the unit, you will have the opportunity to 
demonstrate your procedural fluency with a Skills Check. These are straightforward 
pencil-and-paper tests composed of homework-level problems. While time in class will 
be dedicated to the Skills Check, you may choose to take (and retake) the skills check a 
few times. It will be made available on the first day of the unit and will remain available 
until the end of the next unit. You may take the Skills Check during class or during a free 
block (schedule with Mr. Blickensderfer in advance). 
 
3. Major Assessments (120 points):​ Like any team’s season, our calendar has “gamedays” 
spread across the year. On these days, we will demonstrate our mastery of the 
highest-level challenges of the course. These Major Assessments emulate the types of 
assessments in college mathematics courses while providing the team with authentic 
mathematical challenges. As math is both art and application, the Major Assessments 
range from application projects to challenging problems. Major Assessments come in 
three flavors: 
a. Projects:​ an application of the mathematics to our everyday lives. Squads may 
advise each other, but each individual completes their own project. 
b. Problem Sets:​ a few challenging problems. Squads can complete the problems 
collaboratively, but each individual submits their own solution set. 
c. Tests:​ a few challenging problems to be completed in one class period. Each 
individual will submit their own solution set. 
Like any team’s season, the “gamedays” closest to the end of the year matter the most. 
This design emphasizes that the skills tested by the Major Assessments develop all year 
long; thus, each Major Assessment prepares you for the more important Major 
Assessment that follows. 
 
4. Presentation Problems (30 points):​ Mathematics is a team effort, so it requires effective 
communication. To be able to communicate clearly, we must practice how 
mathematicians share their ideas. Each unit, you will have the opportunity to practice 
this by submitting your solution to a Presentation Problem. Presentation Problems are 

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slightly more challenging problems distributed and marked on homework assignments.  

 
Solutions to Presentation Problems will be graded not for accuracy but for s​ ​implicity, 
efficiency, and clarity​. On the day of each unit’s submission deadline, one student will 
be asked to present their solution orally to the class, and each student will have to do so 
at least once over the course of the year. Since these skills are developed over the 
course of the year, each presentation problems counts for more points than the one 
before it. 
 
Point breakdown per unit: 
Unit  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 

Skills  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts  10 pts 

MA  5 pts  7 pts  9 pts  12 pts  14 pts  16 pts  18 pts  19 pts  20 pts 

PP  2 pts  2 pts  2 pts  3 pts  3 pts  4 pts  4 pts  5 pts  5 pts 
 
5. Final Project (50 points):​ Not only do people need mathematics, but mathematics needs 
people. The most meaningful task in mathematics is original questioning and 
problem-solving. Thus, ​the year culminates with original mathematical research​. You 
will propose a research question, tailored to be of suitable scope, to investigate over the 
course of the final unit. Your question could be strictly mathematical (“How does the 
sign of the coefficient of a polar function affect its shape?”), or it could involve 
application (“What is the optimal strategy in Battleship?”). To be meaningful, the 
question should tie into at least one of the three overarching topics of the year 
(functions, trigonometry, discrete math). We will maintain a list of unanswered 
questions throughout the year from which you may choose one to investigate.  
 
Once the question is proposed, you will engage with relevant research (for helper 
proofs). You will be encouraged to help your teammates, as collaboration at any point in 
this process is acceptable. There will be two check-in days during this unit, during which 
teammates will present their problems and partial solutions. To conclude the unit and 
the year, everyone will present their findings at the PC15 Banquet.   

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A Typical Day in PC15 

 
1. Warm-up 
 
During the warm-up, you will have the opportunity to check in with your squad. You can 
go over homework and presentation problems. If no one can answer a homework 
problem, please write it in the HW Bank on the board. If you can answer a problem put 
in the HW Bank, write your solution on the board. Finally, if you have nothing left to do, 
work on the Warm-up problem. 
 
2. Team Check-in 
 
After the warm-up is over, we will take a few minutes to check in as a team. This is an 
opportunity for us to make announcements about upcoming assessments or other class 
commitments. Additionally, we will use this time to let each other know about upcoming 
personal matters (such as sports games and performances). We will also use this time 
to get to know each other through conversation and games. 
 
3. Problem of the Day 
 
The Problem of the Day (PotD) is designed to introduce new ideas in a compelling form. 
Each squad will tackle the problem by creatively applying their mathematical knowledge 
and problem-solving skills. 
 
Once we have reached a stopping point (by solving the problem, giving up, or anywhere 
in between), we will reflect on what we’ve done. Once each teammate has had enough 
time to reflect, we will begin to discuss the problem together. This will eventually lead to 
the day’s topics, and Mr. Blickensderfer will lead the class to understand the crucial 
aspects of the problem. 
 
Once we’ve finished learning new material, each group will return to the PotD and finish 
it. Additionally, each teammate will fill out an exit slip to demonstrate their 
understanding of the PotD and the topics it introduced. 
 
4. Self-Guided Time 
 
Time-permitting, each day will end with a few minutes of time that you may fill as you 
see fit. During this time, you may choose to work on the Major Assessment with your 
squad. You could also take the Skills Check or just do homework problems. This is a 
good time to meet with Mr. Blickensderfer as well. 
   

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Topics: 
 
Unit  Theme & Skills  Topic  Major Assessment 

1  FUNCTIONS:  Functions: Definitions & Graphs  Problem Set #1 

● Variables and 
2  dependence  Functions: Polynomial & Rational  Test #1 
● Domain, range, 
3  solutions, sets  Functions: Exponential &  Project #1: Benford’s 
● Undefinability  Logarithmic  Law 
● Consistency and 
reversibility 

4  TRIGONOMETRY  Trigonometry: Definitions &  Problem Set #2 

● Proving claims  Identities 
● Toy problems 
5  ● Verification  Trigonometry: Solving Equations  Team Test #2 
● Logic 
6  Trigonometry: Graphs & Polar  Project #2: Graphical 
Coordinates  Art Design 

7  DISCRETE MATH  Discrete Math: Counting problems  Problem Set #3 

● Proof by 
8  contradiction  Discrete Math: Probability  Team Test #3 
● Induction 
9  Discrete Math: Graph Theory  Project #3: Board 
● Creating  Game Design and 
conjectures  Analysis 

10  ENDGAME  Final Project  Final Project: Original 

● Confidence  conjecture and proof 
● Collaboration 
● Curiosity 
 

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