Polynomials Introduction Animal Population

Anyone who hunts knows that they can only do this during the designated season. This is to make sure that the animal population is not depleted. However, if left uncontrolled, an animal population develops polynomially. This means that if one animal has and average of 3 offspring, then each of the 3 babies will have an average of 3 offspring (a total of 9 , and those 9 babies will average 3 offspring each (a total of !" , and so on. Generation # ! 3 & Descendants 3 3 $ 9 % #! 3 $ 9 $ !" % 39 3 $ 9 $ !" $ '# % #!(

The number of descendants of one animal, written as a polynomial, can be e)pressed as ) $ )*! $ )*3 $ )*& where ) is the number of offspring an animal has. +o, if an animal has an average of ' offspring in its lifetime, it will probably have &,'( (' $ '*! $ '*3 $ '*& descendants in four generations. -uckily, animal populations are controlled naturally by predators, disease, starvation, and natural competition. Upon completion of the activities in this unit, you should be able to: .se the following terms in a written paragraph to describe the key concepts of this unit. o polynomial

o o o o o o o o o

monomial binomial trinomial simplify decimal notation scientific notation degree constants /01- method

2ultiply monomials and simplify e)pressions with powers of monomials. 3ivide monomials and simplify e)pressions with 4uotients of monomials and negative e)ponents. 5)press numbers in scientific and decimal notation. /ind products and 4uotients of numbers e)pressed in scientific notation. /ind the degree of a polynomial. Arrange the terms of a polynomial in ascending and descending order. Add and subtract polynomials. 2ultiply a monomial and a polynomial and simplify e)pressions with polynomials. .se /01- to multiply binomials. 2ultiply polynomials by using the distributive property.

2ultiply special binomials by using a pattern.