Day 8: Solving One-Step Equations Lesson Plan

CLST Connection: Students will compare expressions and equations, which will then lead into a
discussion on equality. Students will tie in their prior knowledge and real-life examples of what “equal”
and “equality” means and how they have seen the concepts occur in real-life. This lesson includes an
opportunity for students to engage with a hands-on, interactive, and online balance scale to deepen their
understanding of equality in equations.

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to solve one-step equations with rational coefficients using the
properties of equality and inverse operations.

Assessments:
- Teacher observation as students work to see if they can subtract to undo addition and vice versa,
as well as multiply to undo division and vice versa.
- During the lesson, students will engage in think-pair-share.
- Partner work at the end of the lesson in order to demonstrate their understanding of solving one-
step equations using the properties of equality.

Materials:
- Warm-up handouts
- Chromebooks

Sequence of Activities:
● Intro: Expressions vs. Equations Discussion
- The previous unit was on expressions, so now students will compare that with equations.
Project the following:
x+3 vs. x+3=5
- “What do you notice? What similarities and/or differences do you see?” These
questions intend for students to get to the idea of how expressions do not have an
equal sign whereas equations do. Students will think to themselves first and then
discuss with their table mates before engaging in a whole class discussion.
Emphasize the appearance of the equal sign once the students point it out.
- Ask student(s) to define equal and then lead a discussion about equality.
- The following are some example questions that you can ask in order to
facilitate the discussion on equality: “What does equal mean? What is a
real-life example of equal? What is an example of equality that you have
seen or experienced at school? At home? Your daily life? In our society?
What does the opposite of equal look like in real-life?”
- From my personal experience with this discussion during the lesson, I
had each student first write what equal means to them. Then, they wrote
where they have seen equality played out at school, at home, and in our
society. After each independent writing segment, I had students share
with their elbow partners and then discussed as a class. During our whole
class discussion, I did not call on students in order to value their personal
privacy. Instead, students who were willing to volunteer shared their
experiences. The following are instances of equality that my students
experienced: rotating classroom roles every week, parents taking turns
preparing dinner, siblings getting the same number of cookies, any
ethnicity group can eat at a restaurant, and handicap parking spots. A
student brought up how it is possible to see different ethnicities within a
 job, such as how the workers at her local In-N-Out are Asian, White,
Hispanic, Black, and so forth. This led to another student pointing out that
he still thinks there is a gap between the racial groups that are wealthy
and poor, and how in general, it is rare for him to see wealthy Hispanic
families in comparison to White families. Our class was naturally led to a
valuable discussion on why this wealth gap may be the case in our society
still, and what the students can do themselves in order to bridge this gap
and break out of this “societal norm.”
- Tie the concept of equal with equations, where one side’s value is equal to the other
side’s value. Ask students what they think the equal sign means in terms of the
equation (the left and right side must be of the same value).
● Body:
- SOLIDIFYING THE CONCEPT OF EQUATIONS BY USING MENTAL MATH
- After confirming that both sides of the equation must be equal in value, students will
use mental math to find the value of the variable. For example, n + 2 = 7, ask, “What
value of n makes this equation true?” This is to get to the idea that the goal of
equations is to balance both sides. On this set of equations, I intentionally put a
complex equation as the last one in order to transition students into the notion that
the guess and check strategy is not the most efficient way to solve equations. Thus,
we must work through and write each step when solving equations.
- USING FLOWCHARTS TO BREAK DOWN EACH STEP OF SOLVING EQUATIONS
- Students will learn how to solve equations by applying their prior knowledge of
inverse operations. The flowcharts will help students visualize what is going on
when solving equations and why we need to isolate the variable in order to balance
the equation.
- PROPERTIES OF EQUALITY
- What we do to one side of the equation must also be done to the other side in order
to maintain equality.
- x + 15 = 19. Ask students to explain how to find the value of x that makes me
this equation true. They will explain methods of doing 19-15. Focus on the
notion of subtracting 15 and perform that operation to both sides of the
equation. Draw a vertical line down through the equal sign to mark two sides
of an equation. Then subtract 15 to both sides, showing +15 on the left side
gets cancelled out by -15, while 19 on the right side gets subtracted by 15 to
get 3.
- At this point, it is anticipated that students will express confusion over why
operations must be performed to both sides of the equation. Thus, relate the
properties of equality to a balance scale.
- Essential question going into balance scale: Why apply the same
operations to both sides of the equation? Students will experiment the
online balance scale with me on individual laptops in order to explore
the properties of equality (https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-
Resources/Illuminations/Interactives/Pan-Balance----Numbers/).
The balance scale reference will help students visualize and gain
conceptual understanding of solving equations.
- Start with 10 = 10. Add 5 to one side. Ask students what happened
(imbalance).
- Facilitate the conversation towards students pointing out that the
purpose of solving equations is to balance the equation. Therefore,
what you do on one side of the equation must be done to the other
side of the equation as well to maintain equality.
 - PRACTICE
- As we solve each practice equation, consistently ask…
- “What do I need to get rid of to get the variable by itself?” This is so that
students are reminded to solve equations in terms of isolating the variable.
- “How do I get rid of that term?” This is to reinforce the idea of inverse
operations.
● Closure:
- Post a list of various online platforms on Google Classroom.
- Explain your thoughts using the…
1) Cup & Counter Model:
https://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspDetail
&ResourceID=226
2) Geogebra Balance Scale: https://www.geogebra.org/m/xfqjck9q
3) Desmos Hanger: https://student.desmos.com?prepopulateCode=knz7yf
4) NCTM Pan Balance: https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-
Resources/Illuminations/Interactives/Pan-Balance----Numbers/
5) Online canvas with images and words (Padlet):
https://padlet.com/rachel_lee12/w3p62qc7ap8x
- Then, explain to students that they will be working with their partner to describe in their
own words how to apply the properties of equality when solving equations. They may use
any of the equations from the practice problems as an example. After having a written
explanation, they will choose one technology platform from the list to demonstrate their
description.
- After about 5 minutes, each pair will share with the other pair within their table.
Meanwhile, go around and observe students to check for understanding.

Differentiation:
- English learners benefit from visual and graphic representations, so the online balance scale will
further their understanding of the properties of equality, as well as the concept of equal and
balance. Flowcharts will serve as a scaffolded graphic organizer for solving equations, explicitly
showing inverse operations being applied.
- Give English learners individualized guidance for the exit slip by giving them guided questions:
“What does the equal sign mean in an equation? If you add 5 to one side of the equation, what do you
have to do to the other side of the equation? Why?”
- Advanced students and English learners can work through the self-assessment at their own pace.