Sunday, November 4, 2012

Writing Equations for Problems

Understanding what an equation means is an important skill in Grade 5, but even more important is being able to write an equation within the context of a problem.  A student's ability to do this not only shows their ability to understand the problem itself, but also gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the way various numbers interact. 

For example, if I am given a problem about a boy who shares 15 apples between himself and 4 friends, it is easy relatively easy to understand that the friends each receive 3 apples because 15 divided by 5 equals 3.  What is not quite so easy is to write this equation in a variety of ways, using more than one operation.

In the video below, Halda shows how she approached this problem and the strategies she used to solve it.

 
And now, watch Rhiannon use the same skill set in a slightly different way, using multiplication and division.  Watch for the clever way she sneaks in a birthday shout out to her teacher!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Writing Expressions for a Pattern

23 October 2012 - We have been working on some pre-algebra in our current math unit of late! I know what you're thinking, but it's not just for high school students! We start with a pattern of numbers like 4, 5, 6, ... and, using a variable to represent the figure number, write an expression for the pattern itself. I know that it sounds more complicated than it is, so I will let Mila and Keana explain it below:


Didn't they do a great job? The only thing they forgot is to actually write an expression for a) and b). The expressions they meant to write were as follows:

a) x + 14
b) x + 15