Forming and solving equations from word problems
Let a letter stand for the unknown, turn the story into an equation, solve it, then check the answer in the story.
- UK: Year 8
- France: grade 5
- Germany: grade 6
- Iran: grade 7
- Afghanistan: grade 8
- Syria: grade 6
- Palestine: grade 7
- Ukraine: grade 6
- Russia: grade 6
Guide
At Key Stage 3 pupils learn to "model situations by translating them into algebraic expressions" and to solve the linear equation they get. The Iranian Year 7 book names three steps: choose the unknown, turn the words into an algebraic equality (form the equation), and solve it. This studio puts those steps on screen.
In each mission your child first taps the facts they need and says what x stands for. In the first two missions they then build a bar model, the same model they used with a box □ when writing number sentences. Now the box becomes the letter x, which may appear more than once: x + x + 4 = 30.
Multiplication next to a letter is written with a dot (3·x) so that it isn't confused with x. Tap the circle to change a sign.
Common slips: writing "4 more than x" as 4x; turning "3 times as much" round the wrong way (Sara's share as x ÷ 3); never saying what x is; and giving x as the answer when the question asks for something else. The "why" question is the last step: check the answer in the story itself.