Overview

Math 8 Honours is a highly enriched course: students move quickly through the provincial Grade 8 curriculum, and the course is then able to give major emphasis to contest work and other enrichment. There is a strong emphasis on problem solving, and developing greater insight and fluency with each topic. Students are encouraged to enter mathematics contests as they work to explore and expand their understanding of mathematical concepts. Students are expected to maintain a minimum grade of and  A in order to continue into the Math 9 Honours course in the following year.

Entrance Exam

Students who wish to take Math 8 Honours should have demonstrated strong problem solving skills and a thorough understanding of the Math 7 curriculum.
•     Admission into Mathematics 8 Honours will be based on recommendations made by their Grade 7 teacher and on the student’s results from the Math 8 Honours entrance exam.
•     The Math 8 Enriched entrance exam will take place at Burnaby South on TBD

The exam is meant to determine a student’s proficiency in mathematics and readiness to enter the Math 8-9 Honours program.  Students are expected to have a very good understanding of the Math 7 curriculum and some of the key topics from the Math 8 curriculum, such as the Pythagorean theorem, solving equations, and probability.  In addition, the exam will include math contest questions and more open-ended problem-solving questions.  For a description of the exam and sample questions, click here.

For more practice on the Gauss contest-type questions, view the website http://cemc.math.uwaterloo.ca/contests/gauss.html

Topics of Study

In order to meet the learning outcomes for this course, the following units will be studied:

• Integers, Fractions, BEDMAS
• Rates, Ratios, and Percentages
• Basic Algebra, Linear Equations and Polynomials
• Pythagorean Theorem and Properties
• Areas of 2D shapes
• Volume of 3D shapes
• Linear Relationships
• Probability and Statistics

TEXTBOOK: Mathlinks 8 – MathLinks 9 and other resources