Topics to revise before Specialist 1/2

[destain8765]

Hi! So i'm starting specialist maths 1/2 next year and im terrified of the being so unprepared so i was wondering what would be some basic parts of maths i should go over to familiarize myself with and go over before next year begins eg. Geometry etc?

[MightyBeh]

Hi! So i'm starting specialist maths 1/2 next year and im terrified of the being so unprepared so i was wondering what would be some basic parts of maths i should go over to familiarize myself with and go over before next year begins eg. Geometry etc?

Just gonna list a bunch of things because I'm lazy. Stuff you definitely need to know and be comfortable with is underlined (there's intentionally not much)

- sets of numbers (real, integer, natural, etc.). This will probably be mentioned in class, specifically the proper notation for each.
- angles - know your supplementary, alternate, etc. (most likely in the textbook but ignored by most teachers)
- geometry, basic understanding of regular convex polygons (so, normal shapes, mostly ) and their properties
- basic trig, mostly SOH CAH TOA style stuff, since you'll be learning the rest in class. Couldn't hurt to start learning the more complex identities and/or the relevant graphs but you probably won't need them until quite late in the year or 3/4.
- circle properties (arcs, chords, etc.).
- you should be really familiar with your calculator
- but also about ten times more familiar with basic arithmetic because it's pretty embarrassing being caught out not knowing out to multiply two digit numbers (this is definitely implied knowledge )

All of Algebra/graphs/functions is super important in general, but here's some key points:
- factorising and expanding (Definitely touched on in Methods, might be skimmed in spesh)
- graphing accurately and solving for intercepts (Definitely covered in Methods, might be in spesh depending on teachers)
- image and function notation (should be covered in class relatively early on, great to know but not necessary)
- by extension to that last one, try and understand what each part of an equation does to the corresponding graph (transformations). Stuff like the constant at the end shifts up and down. (this should also be covered in class)


Most importantly though, you need to be ready to be wrong because there are some things that will be difficult and unintuitive. There will be some boring parts (like stats, ew) and there will be some fascinating parts (personally, I liked vectors/complex numbers). The best thing you can do to prepare for any VCE course is to be consistent with your study habits. And I don't mean consistently doing nothing because I did that with spesh 1/2 and that was mom's spaghetti.

^{seriously the lowest grades I've ever had #allregrets}
Seriously though, if you do the ~3 hours study a week your teachers have probably been recommending you do for the past year or so (turns out it's because they want you to do well, who would've guessed?) you'll probably be acing the class, regardless of your prior knowledge (to some extent) so relax because everything will turn out fine.

[YellowTongue]

I can't emphasise important it is to remember your exact values for trigonometry. This will also be very important for Methods (which I assume you'll be doing at some point throughout VCE).

And most importantly...probling solving skills! Learn how to solve these types of questions by practicing as often as you can. They will be all through your textbook at the end of each chapter, and though your teacher may not set them, DO THEM! You need to develop these skills

I wish you all the best for your VCE Maths adventures