Addison-Wesley Secondary Math: An Integrated Approach: Focus on Algebra

Focus on Algebra was the widely cited 812-page-long algebra textbook which contained significant content outside the traditional field of mathematics. The real-life context, intended to make mathematics more relevant, included chili recipes, ancient myths, and photographs of famous people.

Although it was a widely used textbook, it made headlines when it was dubbed "rainforest algebra" by critics.

Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat from West Virginia, joined critics of reform mathematics on the floor of the senate by dubbing Addison-Wesley Secondary Math: An Integrated Approach: Focus on Algebra the "Texas rainforest algebra book,". It had received an "F" grade on a report card produced by Mathematically Correct, a back-to-basics group, who claimed that it had no algebraic content on the first hundred pages.

Each of the 10 Chapters were composed of two or three themes, or "Superlessons," each of which connected the algebraic content to another discipline. Each Superlesson began with an opening page with discussion questions relating to the theme. Critics of the programs cited these questions as evidence of the lack of math in the books.

Examples of questions cited:

Exercises within lessons that related to the theme were also criticized. One example:

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