Carissa Erdman

Rewriting radicals
Grade Level: 9
Aim: SWBAT write the prime factorization of the number inside the radical, rewrite
the radical as the product of prime numbers and a perfect square, solve the
perfect square radical, and rewrite the original radical as the product of a solved
perfect square radical and a radical of prime numbers which cannot be solved
PDE Curriculum Standards:

There are no PDE standards for this lesson because it is based on a Keystone
Exam prep booklet. At this point in the year, students have finished all
required content and have begun preparing for standardized tests.

Materials: Rewriting radicals handout; white board; markers

Previously learned: not much; this concept should not be new to students but
because this is the lower level class, most of them have no prior knowledge of how
to do this. What they should know how to do is factor the numbers to get all the
prime numbers. Students also previously created a worksheet full of perfect squares
to help them remember which numbers are classified as such.
In-Class:
1) Write a few radicals on the board, ask students to explain what a radical is
2) Briefly discuss how radicals work
a. You are looking for a number times itself that equals the number
under the square root sign. That is when you have a perfect square.
b. Sometimes, there is no whole number answer, but we can still rewrite
the radical in a different form.
3) Show an example of what the entire process looks like, but assure students
they are only going to work on the first few steps until they get it down
4) Fill out the handout