Description
What our Solve Equations with Whole Numbers lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Solve Equations with Whole Numbers explains how to use parentheses and brackets to solve equations. It describes the role of these symbols in the order of operations. Students will learn how to solve expressions correctly that contain both parentheses and brackets. By the end of the lesson, students will be very familiar with these symbols and use them correctly. This lesson is for students in 5th grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the blue box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.
Options for Lesson
Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. One optional adjustment to the lesson activity is to group students into pairs or small groups and hold a challenge or race to see who can complete the most problems correctly in the shortest amount of time. You could also have your students create their own challenges such as with 3s or 5s. Finally, you could have your students create their own problems to have a partner solve.
Teacher Notes
The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.
SOLVE EQUATIONS WITH WHOLE NUMBERS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
The Solve Equations with Whole Numbers lesson plan includes three content pages.
Parenthesis
Parenthesis are a symbol that you use for grouping. They look like rounded brackets: ( ). Parenthesis have many different uses in mathematics, but this lesson focuses on how to use them when evaluating expressions.
First, let’s review the order of operations. 1. Parenthesis: Solve the part that is in the parenthesis first. 2. Exponents: Simplify exponents. 3. Multiplication and division: Multiply or divide. 4. Addition and subtraction: Add or subtract.
You will always evaluate what’s inside of the parenthesis first. Let’s look at an example: (9 ÷ 3) + 7. First, solve inside of the parenthesis by dividing: (3) + 7. Then, follow the order of operations and add. Your final answer is 10. Without evaluating the parenthesis first, you would have gotten the wrong answer.
The number of operations inside of the parenthesis does not matter, but you must follow the order of operations with the terms inside of the parenthesis. Let’s take a look at another example: (4 + 12 – 8) ÷ 2. To solve, evaluate inside of the parenthesis: (16 – 8) ÷ 2. Next, follow the order of operations and solve: 8 ÷ 2 = 4.
If the equation has two independent sets of parenthesis, reduce each to its lowest terms and then follow the order of operations. Let’s look at an example: (5 – 1) • (3 + 6). Reduce each set of parenthesis and solve: (4) • (9) = 36.
A number in front of a set of parenthesis indicates multiplication. To solve, first evaluate what’s inside the parenthesis and then follow the order of operations. Let’s look at an example: 7(10 + 2 – 8). Evaluate inside of the parenthesis and solve: 7(12 – 8) = 7(4) = 28.
Brackets
Brackets are another symbol that you use for grouping. There are a few different forms of brackets, including square or box [ ], braces or curly { }, and angle < >.
For complicated expressions or equations, you need to use different kinds of brackets for grouping. Let’s take a look at an example problem: [(3 + 1) • (7 – 4) + 1] – 10. First, solve what’s inside of the parenthesis: [(4) • (3) + 1] – 10. Next, complete what is inside the square brackets: [12 + 1] – 10 = [13] – 10. Once you have a single digit, complete the operations outside of the brackets: [13] – 10 = 3.
Let’s look at another example: [4(5 + 8 – 2) ] – 3. First, solve what is inside the parenthesis: [4(13 – 2)] – 3. Next, complete what is inside the square brackets: [4(11)] – 3 = [44] – 3. Finally, Once you have a single digit, complete the operations outside of the brackets: [44] – 3 = 41.
Grouping symbols are an essential part of mathematics. For more complicated problems, you need symbols that tell you how to properly solve the problem. All grouping symbols do is break down a problem into smaller components. The more you work with them, the easier they get!
SOLVE EQUATIONS WITH WHOLE NUMBERS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Solve Equations with Whole Numbers lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.
FOUR FOURS ACTIVITY
The activity may be tricky for some of your students. You can pair them up or divide them into groups to work together. For this worksheet, students must use four 4’s to form every number from 0 to 10. They will use the symbols they learned about in the lesson and the four main operators (+ – x ÷). Answers may vary for this exercise, but the answer key provides possible answers. You may even want to go through a couple with the class as practice.
SOLVE EQUATIONS WITH WHOLE NUMBERS PRACTICE WORKSHEET
There are two parts to the practice worksheet. First, students will solve several equations and then explain how they found their answers. Then they will solve six different equations.
SOLVE THE EQUATIONS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
The homework assignment is similar to the practice worksheet. Students will create an equation to match what the scenario says. Then they will show their work to explain why their answer is correct. Last, they will solve six different equations.
Worksheet Answer Keys
This lesson plan includes answer keys for the activity worksheet, the practice worksheet, and the homework assignment. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
