Constant reinforcement and connections within problem solving<br >strategies， data interpretation， geometry， patterns， graphs， and situations from every-<br >day life can help students gradually master both new and old information.<br >Problem Solving Process This is formally introduced in Chapter 2 with a new four-<br >step process that is integrated throughout the text. The four steps are Understand，<br >Translate， Solve， and Interpret. The repeated use of these steps throughout the text<br >in a variety of examples shows their wide applicability. Reinforcing the steps can in-<br >crease students confidence in beginning problems.<br >Apnli cations and Connections Every effort was made to include as many accessi-<br >ble， -in~resting and relevant real-life applications as possible throughout the text in<br >both wo]?ked-out examples and exercise sets. The applications strengthen students un-<br > derstanding of mathematics in the real world and help to motivate students. They<br > show connections to a wide range of fields including agriculture， allied health， art， as-<br > tronomy， automotive ownership， aviation， biology， business， chemistry， communication，<br > computer technology， construction， consumer affairs， demographics， earth science，<br > education， entertainment， environmental issues， finance and economics， food service，<br > geography， government， history， hobbies， labor and career issues， life science， medicine，<br > music， nutrition， physics， political science， population， recreation， sports， technology，<br > transportation， travel， weather， and important related mathematical areas such as<br > geometry and statistics. (See the Index of Applications on page xxi.) Many of the ap-<br > plications are based on recent and interesting real-life data. For instance， see Section<br > 4.3， exercise 44， Section 5.3 exercise 85， or Section 6.4， exercise 58 for a variety of ways<br > real data is used. Sources for data include newspapers， magazines， government pub-<br > lications， publicly held companies， special interest groups， research organizations， and<br > reference books. Opportunities for obtaining your own real data with and without<br > using the internet are also included.<br > Helpful Hints Helpful Hints， formerly Reminders， contain practical advice on ap-<br > plying mathematical concepts. These are found throughout the text and strategical-<br > ly placed where students are most likely to need immediate reinforcement. They are<br > highlighted in a box for quick reference and， as appropriate， an indicator line is used<br > to precisely identify the particular part of a problem or concept being discussed. For<br > instance， see pages 88 and 293.<br > Visual Reinforcement of Concepts The text contains numerous graphics， models，<br > and illustrations to visually clarify and reinforce concepts.These include new and up-<br > dated bar graphs and circle graphs in two and three dimensions， line graphs， calcula-<br > tor screens， application illustrations， photographs， and geometric figures. There are<br > now approximately 1，000 figures.<br > Real World Chapter Openers The new two-page chapter opener focuses on how<br > math is used in a specific career， provides links to the World Wide Web， and references<br > a "Spotlight on Decision Making" feature within the chapter for further exploration<br > of the career and the relevance of algebra. For example， look at the opener for Chap-<br > ter 3. The opening pages also contain a list of section titles， and an introduction to the<br > mathematics to be studied together with mathematical connections to previous chap-<br > ...<br > ters in the text.<br > Student Resource Icons At the beginning o ，~，ach section， videotape， tutorial soft<br > ware CD Rom， Student Solutions Manual， ~and Study Guide 1cons are displayed<br > These icons help remind students that these learning aids are available should the <br > choose to use them to review concepts and skills at their own pace.These items hay<br > direct correlation to the text and emphasize the text s methods of solution.<br ><br >"