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McGraw Hill Reveal Minnesota Algebra 1 – Lesson 1-2 Lesson

From Words to Symbols: Writing and Evaluating Algebraic Expressions

Shared by A STEM Educator★ Featured Teacher · rated 90+ in our quality review

8th Grade level IIIBTC Style / Thinking Classrooms50 min
Learning Objective

Students will write algebraic expressions from verbal phrases, translate algebraic expressions into verbal form, and evaluate algebraic expressions by substituting given values.

Lesson Overview

Students progress from translating simple verbal phrases into algebraic expressions, to writing verbal descriptions of expressions, to evaluating multi-operation expressions with substitution — changing only one complexity layer at a time.

Materials

  • Vertical whiteboards or chart paper
  • Dry-erase markers (multiple colors)
  • Pencils and notebook paper

Scaffolded Task Progression

1Task 1
Write an algebraic expression for each phrase. Use as your variable.
a) 'eight more than a number'b) 'a number decreased by five'c) 'twice a number'
2Task 2
Write an algebraic expression for each phrase. Use as your variable.
a) 'the quotient of a number and four'b) 'three less than a number'c) 'a number multiplied by nine'

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