7 Equality

Rationale

E
quality is a fundamental concept in algebra. It is noted through use
of an equal sign, represents a relationship of equivalence, and can
be conceptualized by the idea of balance. Despite the importance
of the equal sign, there is tons of research that shows that students
often have serious misconceptions about what the equal sign means.
The research has mostly been conducted with elementary through high
school students, but using an assessment included in this unit, I have
found it is equally true of adult learners.

Many adult education students think the equal sign means “the answer”
or “what you get when you do the operation.” Students who think this
way tend to answer questions like 12 + 5 = ® + 6 incorrectly, writing a
17 in the square. Students also get thrown when they see things like
14 = 17 – ®, because the operation is taking place on the right side of
the equation.

This misunderstanding makes sense if you think about students’ prior

experiences with the equal sign. They have been seeing equality in
arithmetic for years; most of it has looked like 7 × 8 =___ or 25 × 18 =
____. Even the use of a calculator can reinforce this misconception—just
push the “=” and the answer appears.

This association of the equal sign with “the answer” as opposed to

understanding it as signifying balance or equivalence can be especially
problematic when students encounter the symbol in algebra. If students
understand the equal sign to mean balance, it makes sense to perform the
same operations on either side of the equation. Without an understanding
of a balance point between the two sides of the equation, the rule,
“Whatever you do to one side you have to do to the other,” becomes a
disconnected rule that students struggle to memorize and use.

The problems in this unit were chosen to help students understand the
meaning of the equal sign. This is not something we can just tell students
and expect to fully take root—they have a deeply-seated misconception
that won’t be corrected easily. These activities are intended to help draw
out students’ intuitive sense for keeping things in balance and connecting
that to the formal use and notation of the equal sign.

Students don’t need to know the names or the symbolic representations,

but a sense of these properties of equality will help them gain flexibility
in understanding balance and equivalence:

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n the reflexive property of equality (a = a)

n the transitive property of equality (If a = b and b = c, then a =c)

n the substitution property of equality (if a = b, then b can replace a

in any expression without changing the value of that expression)

n the addition property of equality (If a = b, then a + c = b + c)

n the subtraction property of equality (If a = b, then a – c = b – c)

n the multiplicative property of equality (If a = b, then a × c = b × c)

n the division property of equality (If a = b, then a ÷ c = b ÷ c)

OPPORTU N ITI ES TO DEVE LOP TH E FOLLOWI NG SKI LLS

n Developing fluency with the different properties of equality.

n Creating equations with two or more variables to represent

relationships between quantities.

KEY VOCABULARY

balance: a state of equilibrium; equal distribution of weight,

amount, etc. Have students brainstorm situations when we talk
about “balance.”

a balance scale: a device for weighing. When the pans are

equivalent in weight, the scale will be level. We can replace objects
in the pans with objects of equal weights without changing the
balance. We place an object in one pan and standard weights in the
other to find what the object weighs.

equivalent: having the same value. For example, 4 quarters and 20

nickels are equivalent. Eight hours is equivalent to 28,800 seconds.

equal sign: a symbol used to show symmetric balance between two

values or quantities, one on each side of the equal sign. Can be read
as “is equivalent to” or “is the same as”.

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Core Problem Overview: Zip Zap Zowie

This problem describes the relationship (in terms of weight) between A word on the words: It’s fine
to change the words if you
four kinds of imaginary objects: zips, zaps, zowies, and swooshes. We are
think your students might
told that one zip equals three zaps. Two zaps equals five zowies. Three be thrown by the imaginary
zowies equals two swooshes. Finally, we are told that a swoosh weighs words. I like the “zip,” “zap,”
60 pounds. This problem is a good way to draw out “working backwards” “zowie” and “swoosh” for the
as a problem-solving strategy. This is the most common path students lightheartedness of students
having to say things like,
find to a solution, though it may take many students some time and trial
“Well, I know two swooshes
and error before they come to that strategy. weigh 120 pounds and that
is equivalent to 3 zowies, but
In the end, students should be able to explain how we can tell that each
how do I figure out how much
zip weighs 300 pounds, each zap weighs 100 pounds, and each zowie a zowie weighs?”
weighs 40 pounds.

TEACH I NG TH E COR E PROB LE M

Have a few students read the problem aloud while others follow along.
Give them time to work on their own—maybe five minutes. Then have
them get into groups of three or four, share their thinking so far, and
then keep working towards a solution. Students should be given time to
struggle with this problem, and you should support any method that the
student has chosen.

If students are struggling, suggest that

they try to create a visual representation
of the situation. They might draw shapes
or pictures, or create some other visual
model. A great way to support students with
this problem is to give them materials to
make the situation tactile as well as visual.
Offer students stickies (of different colors
if possible), index cards, pattern blocks,
etc. to let them experiment with different
visualizations. To the {direction} you can see
an example of a visual model of a group’s solution method.

In addition to suggesting students try to make visual representations,

you can help students get unstuck by asking 1 or 2 of the following
clarifying questions:

n What do we know?
n What does it mean to say “one zip weighs the same as three zaps?”
n If one swoosh weighs 60 pounds, how much do two swooshes weigh?
n How much do three zowies weigh? How do you know?
n How many zaps weigh the same as 2 swooshes and 2 zowies?

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n Which weighs more, a ____ or a ____? How do you know? (You can
ask students to compare any of the four words).

Students will need some sense of the properties of equality to work on

this problem. This is not to say that you should present these properties
before you give out this problem. Many of your students either know, or
will intuit, the properties they need. Others will need more support, and
we should ask questions to help them see useful properties wherever
they are in their solution process. As groups are working, walk around
and look for opportunities to test understanding. For example, asking If
one swoosh weighs 60 pounds, how much do two swooshes weigh? or How
much do three zowies weigh? How do you know? will help students think
about the reflexive property of equality. The idea that each swoosh (and
zowie, and zap, and zip) weighs the same amount as every other swoosh
is important and may not be immediately understood by every student.

You may have a group that finishes the problem early while others are
still working. Ask questions of different group members to make sure
they can all explain the method. If each member can, you can offer the
following extension, which I learned from Patricia Helmuth, an adult
education math teacher in New York’s Hudson Valley. Ask students to
create another situation (with real-life objects or imaginary words) using
the same relationships between the elements, but where d≠60.

a = 3b
2b = 5c
3c = 2d
Note: Students will probably not solve this problem by setting up
equations. That is something that we will draw out of the debrief on
their work. Given that, it’s best not to use equations in the phrasing of
the extension.

PROCESSI NG TH E PROB LE M

As you are walking around and asking the groups clarifying questions,
be on the lookout for two things: (1) moments where groups get stuck
and (2) different strategies students use.

When you ask groups to present their work, start with the most visual
and concrete methods. Save the group that used an equal sign in their
method for last. You probably won’t get a group that sets up algebraic
equations with variables, but you might have something like:

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zip = 3 zaps
2 zaps = 5 zowies
3 zowies = 2 swooshes

Ask each group to prepare to present their reasoning by putting their

method on chart paper/newsprint. Ask them to make their method clear
so that someone else could understand it without having to ask them
any questions. As the groups present their strategies, give the class
time to ask questions and make statements of appreciation about each
other’s’ methods. If no group uses the equal sign, introduce the notation
after all the groups have presented. Either way, ask the rest of the class
what they think about the use of the equal sign.

Recommended Extension: To engage them further, you can ask students

to use the information in the problem and use the equal sign to show
equivalence in other ways.

For example:
1 zap = 1 swoosh and 1 zowie
1 zip = 5 swooshes

How many zowies and swooshes would it take to balance with a zip?

Supplemental Problems
The supplemental problems in this unit continue the work of the core
problem, giving students the opportunity to build on the strategies and
discoveries they’ve made.

n Assessment on Equality
This assessment can give you insight into your students’
understanding of the equal sign. I am still always surprised by
how many of these students get wrong. It really goes a long way
towards understanding the problems they have working with
equations.

n Balancing the Scales

These four problems allow students to explore the concept of
equality using balance scales. They come from Math Matters
(see resource section). Each problem has three scales. Students
consider the information in the first two scales to figure out what
it would take to balance the third scale. Students will have the
opportunity to use the addition/subtraction/ multiplication /
division and substitution properties of equality.

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n Noah’s Ark
This problem comes from fawnnguyen.com, a great math teaching
blog by Fawn Nguyen, a middle school teacher in California. It
is similar to the core problem, and the balancing scales problems
but it is more complex, with more objects (animals) and more
“equations.” I highly recommend offering students tools to make
visual representations of the problem. You might even make
extra sheets of animals for students to cut out. This is a great
problem and a great way to see how students can put together all
the strategies they developed working on the other problems in
this unit.

n Fix These Equations

I really like doing this activity, created by Steve Hinds, director
of Active Learning in Adult Numeracy (alanproject.org). It helps
students practice the order of operations, while strengthening
their sense of equations being equivalent. In general, having
students evaluate whether equations are true or false is a good
way to focus their thinking and see where they are at in their
understanding of the equal sign. This activity presents a series
of false equations—that is, none of them are true. The goal is for
students to experiment with placement of parentheses to make
the equations true. This is a nice way to end an exploration of the
equal sign, since this problem goes beyond the sense of equivalence
and actually uses the formal notation of the equal sign.

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Zip Zap Zowie

1 zip weighs as much as 3 zaps.

2 zaps weigh as much as 5 zowies.

3 zowies weigh as much as 2 swooshes.

If one swoosh weighs 60 pounds, how many pounds does a zip weigh?

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Equality Assessment
Write the correct answer on the line.

9 + 11 = _____ + 6

_____ = 17 – 4

19 + _____ = 21 + 4

14 – 4 = _____ – 3

45 + 13 = 13 + _____

_____ + 10 = 7 + 9

Describe what this symbol = means without using the word “equal.”

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Keeping Your Balance

Solve the four balance problems below. In each problem, use the information from
the balanced scales A and B to figure out what is needed to balance scale C.

Scale A Scale B Scale C

Scale A Scale B Scale C

Scale A Scale B Scale C

Scale A Scale B Scale C

Adapted from Math Matters: Understanding the Math You Teach by Suzanne Chapin and Art Johnson

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Noah’s Ark
Mr. Noah wants his Ark to sail along on an even keel. The ark is divided down
the middle, and on each deck the animals on the left exactly balance those on
the right—all but the third deck.

Can you figure out how many giraffes are needed in place of the question mark
so that they (and the lion) will exactly balance the six zebras?

Adapted from fawnnguyen.com

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Fix These Equations!

None of the following equations is correct. Insert parentheses
so that they are correct.

a. 13 − 2 × 5 = 55

b. 12 = 3 × 6 − 2

c. 11 − 2 × 4 +1 = 1

d. 11 − 3 × 4 + 2 = 34

e. 23 = 3 + 7 × 2 + 3

f. 12 − 2 × 5 +1 = 60

g. 4 − 12 − 5 = 4

h. 8 + 2 × 4 − 1 = 14

i. 12 − 8 × 1 + 7 = 32

j. 8−2+6÷3=4

k. 7 + 3 2 = 100

l. 24 + 16 ÷ 8 − 4 = 10

m. 20 ÷ 7 − 2 + 5 2 × 3 = 79

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Solutions to Fix These Equations!

Traditional work with students on the order of operations can be
very dull. In this format, students must use the order of operations
constantly, but it has the advantage of a puzzle-like quality.

a. (13 − 2) × 5 = 55

b. 12 = 3 × (6 − 2)

c. 11 − 2 × (4 + 1) = 1 (This one is difficult.)

d. (11 − 3) × 4 + 2 = 34

e. 23 = (3 + 7) × 2 + 3

f. (12 − 2) × (5 +1) = 60
g. (4 − 1)2 − 5 = 4 (If your students haven’t worked with exponents,
call this one a bonus problem.)

h. 8 + 2 × (4 − 1) = 14

i. (12 − 8) × (1 + 7) = 32
j. (8 − 2 + 6) ÷ 3 = 4
k. (7 + 3)2 = 100 (See letter g)
l. (24 + 16) ÷ (8 − 4) = 10

m. 20 ÷ (7 − 2) + 52 × 3 = 79

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