Chapter 1
A Review of Basic Operations
Student Performance Objectives:
Section I The Decimal Number System: Whole Numbers
1-1 Reading and Writing Whole Numbers in Numerical and Word Form
Section II Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers
Section III Multiplication and Division of Whole Numbers
1-5 Multiplying Whole Numbers and Verifying Your Answers
1-6 Dividing Whole Numbers and Verifying Your Answers
Chapter Notes, Teaching Tips and Lecture Launchers
• For the majority of business math students, this chapter should serve mainly as a review.
• Encourage students to develop good study habits right from the beginning of the term.
• Remind students that repetition, including seeing, hearing and doing, will help them feel
confident in their ability to do math.
Section I The Decimal Number System: Whole Numbers
• Spotlight: Caution the student not to use the word and when reading and writing whole
numbers. The number 574, for example, should be read as: five hundred seventy-four. And
• Spotlight: Large numbers, in the millions and above, may be easier to read by writing the
words “million, billion, trillion” rather than using zeros. For example, 88,000,000,000,000
may be written as eighty-eight trillion.
• Collaborative Learning Activity: Have students break into groups of two’s. Have each
student write 4 numbers in word form and read them to their partner. Have the partners write
• Classroom Activity: Ask students to think of situations in real-life when rounding and
estimating would be useful. Typical responses might include:
• Totaling a check in a restaurant
Section II Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers
• When adding columns of numbers, students can improve their accuracy by adding “down”
• Spotlight: Students notoriously have trouble understanding what math procedures should be
used to solve word problems. Review in class the steps to solving word problems.
• Collaborative Learning Activity: In groups, have students formulate a strategy and complete
this addition problem. Each letter represents a different digit.
NUT
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Section III Multiplication and Division of Whole Numbers
• In multiplication, some students may have difficulty aligning the numbers of the partial
products. It may help to have them insert zeros when necessary.
• Spotlight – Classroom Activity: When dividing numbers ending in zeros, an equal number
of zeros may be deleted from the divisor and the dividend to make the calculation easier.
Questions Students Always Ask
“Won’t rounding all the way throw the answer off?”
“How do I divide on my calculator?”
“I’m doing the steps exactly as you’ve shown them; why am I getting an answer that’s off just a
little?”
• The culprit is probably the individual calculator’s penchant for rounding. Make sure
“How do I know which number to divide into which number?”
• Speak the question, and often the equation will become evident. For example, when
“How do I know when to round?”
• When estimating, the components of the equation should be rounded all the way, i.e. to