few_shots: 
Example 1:
Problem/activity:
You’re mixing ingredients for cookies. The recipe says to combine 6 tablespoons, or ¾ stick, of butter with 1 cup of sugar. You accidentally mix in a whole stick of butter (8 tablespoons) with the cup of sugar. How can you fix this?


Concept/skill: 
Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.

Answer: 
No. Usually problems that teach recognizing and representing proportional relationships between quantities involve deciding whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship or identifying the constant of proportionality, and then representing proportional relationships by equations or explaining proportional relationship using coordinate graphs.

Example 2:
Problem/activity:
For each pair of numbers, determine if the values are equivalent. Explain your reasoning for each one.
a.
$$-0.25$$
and
$$\frac{1}{-4}$$
b.
$$-\left ( \frac{1}{4} \right )$$
and
$$\frac{-1}{-4}$$
c.
$$\frac{-1}{4}$$
and
$$-\frac{1}{4}$$


Concept/skill: 
Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction or whole number by a fraction.

Answer: 
No. The expressions shown in this problem do not involve multiplying fractions with other fractions, nor whole numbers with fractions.

Example 3:
Problem/activity:
Problem 1
The table below contains single equations in a single variable, single equations in two variables, and pairs of simultaneous equations in two variables. Check the appropriate box to show whether there is no solution, exactly 1 solution, or if there is an infinite number of solutions.
|                                                          | **           No solution          ** | **           Exactly 1 solution          ** | **           Infinite number of solutions          ** |
|----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
|                       $${9=4x+7}$$                       |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|                       $${y=3y+5}$$                       |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|                    $${y={x\over2}}$$                     |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|                     $${3x+6y-9=0}$$                      |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
|    $${x=y}$$                        $${1.25x=1.25y}$$    |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
| $${9.9=6x+8y}$$                        $${9x=2.5y-8.8}$$ |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
| $${11x-2y=1.5}$$                        $${11x-2y=2.5}$$ |                                      |                                             |                                                       |
Problem 2
Kim has a small container and a large container as shown.
[IMG]
It takes 16 of the small containers to fill the large container. Three small containers leave 1.95 gallons of space in the big container.
What is the size of each of the two containers?


Concept/skill: 
Analyze and solve pairs of simultaneous linear equations.

Answer: 
Yes. The last three rows of the table in the first problem involves solving pairs of simultaneous linear equations. The second word problem can also be represented as two simultaneous linear equations.

Now, does the problem or activity shown below enable students to learn the full intent of the following concept or skill?

shot_info: fl_problem_000972_neg_0

6

fl_problem_001097_neg_0

7

fl_problem_001392_pos_0

8
standard_description: Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. Apply properties of operations to calculate with numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate; and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies. For example: If a woman making $25 an hour gets a 10% raise, she will make an additional 1/10 of her salary an hour, or $2.50, for a new salary of $27.50. If you want to place a towel bar 9 3/4 inches long in the center of a door that is 27 1/2 inches wide, you will need to place the bar about 9 inches from each edge; this estimate can be used as a check on the exact computation.
problem_activity: Activity
In this activity, students get a chance to practice applying their skills in representing situations symbolically, and finding and interpreting solutions.
The structure of a row game supports students to check their thinking because their partners should get the same answer to different questions. When students’ answers disagree, they must make sense of each other’s questions and thinking to figure out whose answer is correct.
The practice prepares students to solve equations and solve for one variable in terms of another in their Algebra 1 lessons.
Monitor for students:
calculating some specific values before generating an equation
analyzing the quantities and relationships in the text
looking for and using mathematical structures, such as
\(ax + by\)
or
\(mx + b\)
Launch
Students will work independently to complete their designated column, and will work with their partners in the event that an answer is different from what their partners got.
Student Facing
Partner A completes only column A, and partner B completes only column B. Your answers for each problem should match. Work on one problem at a time, and check whether your answer matches your partner’s before moving on. If you don’t get the same answer, work together to find your mistake.
Column A:
Lin’s teacher has a daughter that is
\(\frac13\)
of his age. Write an expression to represent the daughter’s age. Let
\(z\)
represent the teacher’s age, in years.
Han wants to save
$
40. He hasn’t met his goal yet. Write an expression to represent how far Han is from his goal, in dollars. Let
\(q\)
represent the amount of money, in dollars, he’s saved so far.
Priya has some money to spend at a fair. It costs
$
6 to get in and
$
0.50 per ride ticket. Write an expression to represent how much Priya spends at the fair, in dollars. Let
\(x\)
represent the number of ride tickets Priya buys.
Diego is inviting some friends over to watch movies. He is buying popcorn and peanuts. Popcorn costs 6 cents per ounce and peanuts cost 17 cents per ounce. Write an expression to represent the total cost of peanuts and popcorn, in cents. Let
\(j\)
represent how many ounces of popcorn Diego buys and
\(k\)
represent how many ounces of peanuts he buys.
Column B:
Jada leaves the beach with some seashells. One out of every three of the shells turns out to contain a hermit crab. Write an expression to represent the number of hermit crabs Jada found. Let
\(z\)
represent the total number of seashells she collected.
Tyler started the school year with 40 pencils, but he’s lost some. Write an expression to represent how many pencils Tyler has left. Let
\(q\)
represent the number of pencils he’s lost so far.
When Clare bought her plant, it was 6 inches tall. Each week, it’s been growing
\(\frac12\)
of an inch. Write an expression to represent how tall Clare’s plant is, in inches. Let
\(x\)
represent the number of weeks since Clare bought her plant.
Mai is packing care packages. She is putting in boxes of granola bars that weigh 6 ounces each and paperback books that weigh 17 ounces each. Write an expression to represent the total weight of a care package, in ounces. Let
\(j\)
represent the number of boxes of granola bars and
\(k\)
represent the number of books.
Student Response
Teachers with a valid work email address can
click here to register or sign in
for free access to Student Response.
Activity Synthesis
The goal of this discussion is for students to name and clarify strategies they have for writing algebraic expressions to describe given situations.
Strategies students might have include:
calculating some specific values before generating an expression
analyzing the quantities and relationships in the text
looking for and using mathematical structures, such as
\(ax + by\)
or
\(mx + b\)
Call on previously identified students to share their strategies for writing expressions, and support students to share insights or tips that will help other students. Possible questions for discussion include:
Why did you do calculations with some specific numbers first? How did that help you?
How did you record your calculations? What patterns did you notice?
When you read the situation, how many times did you read it?
What did you notice the first time you read the situation?
What did you notice when you looked at it again?
How did you decide what operations to use in your expression?
What made you think that your final expression would look like
\(mx + b\)
(or whatever structure is appropriate)?


aligns: no