$2.00 Show
Want a better way to review solving equations-multi step? Miss Kuiper’s Classroom has you covered with these solving multi-step equations mazes! With 2 different mazes, students will encounter problems with fractions, distributive property and variables on both sides of the equal sign. Check out what I mean by previewing the mazes here! Prefer to buy this on Teachers Pay Teachers? Click here! P.S. It’s cheaper here!
DescriptionSolving Equations – Multi StepWant a better way to review solving equations-multi step? Miss Kuiper’s Classroom has you covered with these solving multi-step equations mazes! With 2 different mazes, students will encounter problems with fractions, distributive property and variables on both sides of the equal sign. Included in this resource:
Maze #1: This maze has equations with one variable on both sides. This is perfect for beginners or for differentiation. Maze #2: This maze has distributive property, combining like terms and variables on both sides of the equal sign. The equations are more complex and suited better for students who need a challenge or slightly higher level practice. Want to learn how to teach solving equations for true understanding? Read the details here! This activity includes equations using:
Prefer to buy this on Teachers Pay Teachers? Click here! P.S. It’s cheaper here! ⭐ Connect with Me! ⭐
© Miss Kuiper’s Classroom, LLC All rights reserved by author. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one teacher, classroom, department, school, or school system is prohibited. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Intended for classroom and personal use ONLY. Need to plan a math unit? Check out my FREE planning guide: “How to Plan a Math Unit: With Struggling Students in Mind.” Click here to download! Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review. You may also like…
Would You Rather Listen to the Lesson? Initial Activity: “Which is heavier? A kilogram of nails or a kilogram of salt?”And that’s just the perfect introduction when I teach how to solve equations with variables on both sides. Usually, my students are just getting good at solving one and two-step equations, and then… they are faced with variables on both sides! It can be confusing at first. They wonder about when to divide the coefficient, what to do with the variables, how to move the terms around. Prepare the following materials and keep these hidden. Just let them out at the right time.
I always bring NAILS and SALT and let my students decide which of the two is heavier/lighter as I let them hold these materials by hand. I pick five students (I may add some more) and ask each one which is heavier/lighter. This initial activity is a good start as I let my students justify their answers. This is a perfect time to confirm their answers by taking out the weighing scales. Don’t forget to emphasize the goal of this activity is to keep the weight of the nails and salt the same at all times!
When I introduce Solving One-Step Equations and Two-Step Equations, I always start off by helping the students understand the goal: to isolate the variable. The initial activity is my springboard in making my students understand how to isolate the variables in Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides using the Properties of Equality. By this time, students have a clearer picture what balance means. Going back to the NAIL and SALT (if they have equal initial weight), adding the same amount of weight to each of them does not change the fact that they are still EQUAL. The same thing goes for subtraction. In solving equations, to isolate the variable, students must take away the other terms from one side of the equation to the other, vice versa, while keeping the equation balanced. “Whatever you do to one side, you must do to the other!” The next activity will make it a bit easier for students to understand how the entire process is done since they already have an idea how to Solve One-Step and Two-Step Equations. As much as I don’t want my students to just let memorization do its thing, the emphasis of using the different properties of equality is of HUGE importance. This guides the students to keep the equation balanced. This makes them realize that we are not merely “moving sides” and “changing signs”, It is actually the Properties of Equality that does the magic! I always ask them to remember the phrase: “An equation can be solved correctly if and only if THE BALANCE IS RIGHT!” In Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides, the goal is to: “GET ALL THE VARIABLES ON THE SAME SIDE” “GET ALL THE CONSTANTS ON THE SAME SIDE” Students start to notice that when they move terms from one side of the equal sign to the other, they just change signs. A positive x becomes a negative x on the other side of an equation. A negative 3x becomes a positive 3x when it moves to the other side. But never forget to tell them that the Properties of Equality does the magic! Set up for the Lesson: Solve Equations with Variables on Both Sides
Launch the Lesson: Solve Equations with Variables on Both SidesTell your students to visualize an equation as a balance scale. A balance scale is an instrument used for weighing with a balance beam and two pans. These two pans will remain in balance if each of its pans contain exactly the same weight. You can always go back to the 1 Kilogram of NAILS and 1 Kilogram of SALT used in the initial activity. Surely, the balance scale will remain in balance because heavier or lighter things/materials weigh exactly the same if they have the same weight. Hold up the balance scale template, you may opt to paste it on the board so it’s easier for everyone to see. Using the balance scale, help your students visualize the equation: 3x + 1 = x + 9
3x + 1 = x + 9
Keep all variables on the same side
3x – x + 1 = x – x + 9 3x – x + 1 = 9 2x + 1 = 9
Move all constants to the right side of the equation
2x + 1 – 1 = 9 – 1 2x = 8
3x + 1 = x + 9, x = 4 3(4) + 1 = 4 + 9 12 + 1 = 4 + 9 13 = 13
Making things easier…
5x + 4x = 6 + 3 9x = 9 Divide both sides by 9.
5x – 6 = -4x + 3, x = 1 5(1) – 6 = -4(1) + 3 5 – 6 = -4 + 3 -1 = – 1 Therefore, the solution of the equation 5x – 6 = -4x + 3 is 1.
Solve Equations with Variables on Both Sides Activity: If the Balance is Right! After showing the first example on how to Solve Equations with Variables on Both Sides using the “Balance Scale Template”. Its time to introduce the activity: If the Balance is Right!
Reflecting on the Activity
5x – 8x = 14 + 7 -3x = 21 Divide both sides of the equation by -3.
-7 – 14 = 8x – 5 -21 = 3x Divide both sides of the equation by 3.
5x – 7 = 8x + 14, x = -7 5(-7) – 7 = 8(-7) + 14 -35 – 7 = -56 + 14 -42 = -42 Therefore, the solution of the equation 5x – 7 = 8x + 14 is -7.
Extensions
Discover More Math Resources!If you enjoyed the knowledge and content available here, there are hundreds more lessons available on MathTeacherCoach.com. Take back your time and spend it where you want, not on lesson prep! |