Raj writes a polynomial expression in standard form using one variable, a, that has 4 terms and is degree 5.Nicole writes a polynomial expression in standard form using one variable, a, that has 3 terms and is degree 2. Raj and Nicole’s polynomial expressions are added to create a sum, written in standard form.What can you determine about the degree of the sum?The sum will be degree .What can you determine about the number of terms of the sum?The maximum number of terms of the sum is , but it could be less.

Raj writes to polynomial expression in standard form using one variable, a, that has 4 terms and is degree 5
 Could for example be the following polynomial:
 Aa ^ 5 + Ba ^ 3 + Ca + D

 Nicole writes a polynomial expression in standard form using one variable, a, that has 3 terms and is degree 2

 The polynomial is:
 Ea ^ 2 + Fa + G

 Adding both polynomials we have:

 (Aa ^ 5 + Ba ^ 3 + Ca + D) + (Ea ^ 2 + Fa + G)
 Aa ^ 5 + Ba ^ 3 + Ea ^ 2 + (C + F) a + (D + G)

 Answer: 
 The sum will be degree = 5 
 The maximum number of terms of the sum is 6, but it could be less. (5 in our example)