This course will introduce topics of algebraic thinking and investigative skills for math. Students will use all of their computation skills, which are essential learning for our students, but develop even greater uses for them in scientific notation and work with integers, or signed numbers. Graphing more complex plots like box-and-whisker and stem-and-leaf will be introduced and mastered. The geometry will build on what the Saxon 7/6 course developed with symmetry, proportions, and circumference and area of figures. Algebraic ideas begin with order of operations and repeating numbers, but continue with problem solving and percents. A student taking this class will be ready for Algebra 1 in the next year, or can complete Algebra 1/2 if more reinforcement of the concepts is needed.