Things to ask your 8th grader

What is the equation of a parabola of the standard shape, facing upward, that has a vertex of (3,2)? y=(x-3)^2+2 a vertex of (-4,-5)? ...

What is the length of the side of a square whose area is 5? The square root of 5.

How many degrees are in the three angles of a triangle? 180 How many degrees are in each of the angles of an equilateral triangle? 60 ...

When counting by powers of ten, a new family starts every multiple of 3. 10^3 is the start of the thousands family, 10^6 is the start of...

You move a parabola to the right by subtracting from x. For example, y=(x-4)^2 moves the vertex of the parabola from the origin (0,0) to...

How much less is the product of two numbers that are one more and one less than a perfect square? For example, how much less is...

After practicing the squares of the multiples of 10, 10x10, 20x20, etc., next look at the squares that are one bigger: 11x11, 21x21, etc....

Ask your student how many perfect squares are less than 10,000. (note: 100*100 = 10,000, so 1 squared up to 99 squared must be less than...

How do you know from a table if the function is linear or exponential? In the example below, for each step of x, the y is multiplied by 2....

When drawing an inequality, what is the difference between the hollow and a solid dot?

Linear growth adds a fixed amount for each additional unit of input. For example, $5 for each additional hour of work. Exponential...

Memorize 2 to the fifth is 32. Then, you can figure out 2 to the sixth by doubling 32 and 2 to the fourth by halving 32. Similarly,...

Any reasonable person would take a million dollars, right? How much money is a penny doubled every day for a month? 1 cent, 2 cents, 4...

You have an inequality such as y < 2x+1. What is the best point to check to decide whether the solution is above the line or below the...

7th graders started working on this recently. 8th graders began the year with this. The story is you order candy to be delivered. Candy...

What is the best point to check to decide whether to fill in to the left or right of the solution point? For example, if I have to make...

When is something proportional? This is a little more complicated than it seems. I get paid $10/hr for babysitting. The amount of money...

7th graders are reviewing commutative and associative properties. Commutative property is that you can change the order of the terms...

Ask your 8th grader for an example of less than vs an example of less than or equal to. For example, if you give your child $5 to spend,...

Ask your 7th or 8th grader what the difference is between an expression and an equation. An example of an expression would be 8p + 4g...