CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Mathematics Assessment Project

CLASSROOM CHALLENGES
A Formative Assessment Lesson

Building and Solving

Complex Equations

Mathematics Assessment Resource Service

University of Nottingham & UC Berkeley

For more details, visit: http://map.mathshell.org

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
May be reproduced, unmodified, for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons license
detailed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ - all other rights reserved
 Building and Solving Complex Equations
MATHEMATICAL GOALS
This lesson unit is intended to help you assess how well students are able to create and solve linear
and non-linear equations. In particular, the lesson will help identify and help students who have the
following difficulties:
• Solving equations where the unknown appears once or more than once.
• Solving equations in more than one way.

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

This lesson relates to the following Standards for Mathematical Content in the Common Core State
Standards for Mathematics:
A-REI: Understand solving equations as a process of reasoning and explain the reasoning.
Solve equations and inequalities in one variable.
This lesson also relates to the following Standards for Mathematical Practice in the Common Core
State Standards for Mathematics, with a particular emphasis on Practices 1, 7, and 8.
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

INTRODUCTION
The unit is structured in the following way:
• Before the lesson, students work individually on an assessment task that is designed to reveal
their current levels of understanding and difficulties. You then review their work and create
questions for students to consider when improving their solutions.
• Students work collaboratively building and solving equations in which the unknown appears
more than once in the equation.
• During a final whole-class discussion students review the main mathematical concepts of the
lesson.
• In a follow-up lesson, students review their initial solutions and then use what they have learned
to either revise the same introductory assessment task or complete a different task.

MATERIALS REQUIRED
• Each student will need a copy of the assessment tasks, Building and Solving Equations and
Building and Solving Equations (revisited), the cut-up sheet Building Equations, the cut-up sheet
Solving Equations, a sheet of paper, a mini-whiteboard, a pen, and an eraser. Some students may
need extra copies of the sheets Building Equations and Solving Equations.
• There is a projector resource to support whole-class discussions.

TIME NEEDED
15 minutes before the lesson, a 70-minute lesson (or two shorter lessons), and 15 minutes in a follow-
up lesson. Exact timings will depend on the needs of your class.
Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-1
 BEFORE THE LESSON

Assessment task: Building and Solving Equations (15 minutes)

Have students complete this task, in class or for
homework, a few days before the formative Building and Solving Equations
assessment lesson. This will give you an I think of a number.
Then I multiply it by 2.
opportunity to assess the work and to find out Then I add 1.
Then I divide the answer by 3.
Then I add 2.
the kinds of difficulties students have with it. Joseph
My final answer is equal to the number I thought of at the beginning.

You should then be able to target your help 1. Write down an algebraic equation that represents this problem.

more effectively in the next lesson.

Give each student a copy of the assessment task Solve your equation to find the number Joseph started with.

Building and Solving Equations.

Read through the questions and try to
answer them as carefully as you can.
It is important that students are allowed to 2(a) Another ‘think of a number’ problem is represented by the equation below.
2w !1
answer the questions without your assistance, 5
+ w + 2 = 2w

as far as possible. Complete the steps below to show the mental calculations that were made.

I think of a number (call it w)

Students should not worry too much if they Step 1: Multiply it by 2
Step 2:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..
cannot understand or do everything, as in the Step 3:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..
next lesson, they will engage in a similar task Step 4: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Wendy
Step 5:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..
that should help them to progress. Explain to The result is double the number I started with.

students that by the end of the next lesson, they

should expect to answer questions such as these 2(b) Solve Wendy’s equation using two different methods.
Show and explain all your steps.
confidently. This is their goal. Two different methods may include the same operations, but in a different order.
Try
Student to make the methods as different
materials Buildingas
andpossible.
Solving Complex Equations S-1
© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
2w !1
+ w + 2 = 2w
5
Assessing students’ responses Method 1: Method 2:

Collect students’ responses to the task and note

what their work reveals about their current
levels of understanding and their individual
difficulties.
We suggest that you do not score students’
work. The research shows that this will be
counterproductive, as it will encourage students
to compare their scores and will distract their 3. Solve the following equation. Show and explain all your steps.

attention from what they can do to improve 6x - 12

+4=
18
3 x
their mathematics.
Instead, help students to make further progress
by summarizing their difficulties as a list of
questions. Some suggestions for these are given
in the Common issues table on the next page.
We suggest that you make a list of your own
questions, based on your students’ work, using
the ideas on the following page. We Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-2
© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
recommend you:
• write one or two questions on each student’s work, or

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-2

 • give each student a printed version of your list of questions and highlight the questions for each
individual student.
If you do not have time to do this, you could select a few questions that will be of help to the majority
of students and write these questions on the board when you return the work to the students in the
follow-up lesson.
Common issues: Suggested questions and prompts:

When solving the equation, different • How can you check your solution is correct?
operations are applied to its two sides • Substitute your final answer into each side of
For example (Q1): The student writes: the equation. What do you get?

2x + 1 = 3x − 6;
2x − 5 = 3x instead of 2x + 7 = 3x.
When solving or making an equation, there • Write the expression with the one fraction bar
are incorrect additions or subtractions of a as two fractions. What do you get when you
value to or from an expression add 2? Write the resultant expression on the left
For example: The student attempts to add 2 to side of the equation as one fraction.
both sides of the equation (Q1): 2x 1
+ = x−2
3 3
2x +1
Add 2 = x−2 • After the addition, are the two sides of the
3
equation still equal? How do you know?
2x + 3
⇒ =x
3
When building or solving an equation, • Multiply by 3 means multiply the whole
incorrect multiplication of just one term in the expression by 3. How could you write this?
expression • Think of words to describe the expression with
For example (Q1): Multiplying x − 2 by 3, the parentheses. Do these words match your
student writes 3x − 2 instead of 3(x − 2), or expression without the parentheses?
3x − 6.

When solving an equation, incorrect • Are both sides of your equation equal?
multiplication of an expression How do you know?
For example: The student may decide to multiply • Have you multiplied all terms by 5?
both sides of the equation by 5 (Q2): • Now divide both sides of the equation by 5.
2w -1 Does this give you your original equation?
Multiply by 5 + w + 2 = 2w
5
results in 2w - 1 + w + 2 = 10w
instead of 2w - 1 + 5w + 10 = 10w.

Only one answer is provided • Is the equation linear or quadratic? What do

you know about these types of equations?
For example (Q3): The student writes x = 3 for
the equation x2 = 9.
All the answers are correct • Now use a different method to solve equation
3.

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-3

 SUGGESTED LESSON OUTLINE
In this lesson students build and solve complex-looking equations. Understanding how to construct
these equations will help students to solve them using a similar step-by-step ‘de-construction’
approach.
If you think your students will struggle with the introduction to the lesson you may want to begin by
using the first part of the Middle School lesson Building and Solving Linear Equations.

Whole-class introduction (20 minutes)

Throughout this discussion there are some challenging problems; encourage students to first tackle
these individually and only then discuss it with a neighbor. In that way students will have something
to talk about and may help prevent a few students dominating the discussion. Maximize participation
by asking all students to show you solutions on their mini-whiteboards. Select a few students with
interesting or contrasting answers to justify them to the class. Encourage the rest of the class to
contest these explanations.
Depending on how the discussion goes, you may not need to use all the examples provided here.
Give each student a mini-whiteboard, pen, and eraser.
In this lesson you will build equations from solutions such as x = 6 and solve equations.
The building of equations will help you understand how to solve them, that is 'un-build’ them.
Write on the board or an overhead transparency:

x=6

Then state that this value for x could have been derived from the equation:
€ 3x = 2x + 6

Is there only one solution to this equation? [Yes.]

Is there only one equation that will give this solution? [No.]
Ask students to construct an equation where x appears on both sides, that would solve to give the
answer x = 6.
Encourage students to use more than one operation; for example students may consider using
subtraction, multiplication, division, and equations with x2.
Show me a more complicated equation where the solution is still x = 6.
Show me an equation with a division, where the solution is still x = 6.
Show me an equation that uses parentheses, where the solution is still x = 6.
Show me an equation with a division by x, where the solution is still x = 6.
After a few minutes ask students to show you their mini-whiteboards.

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-4

 Here are some possible examples:
4x = 3x + 6 or 2x + 3 = 9 + x
or 3x − 6 = 2x or 4x2 = (6 + x)2
x x or 3x
or = 6 - - 1 = 2 + x
2 2 2

36 or 3x − 2
or x = = x − 2
x 4
€ €
Ask two or three students with quite different equations to explain how they arrived at them.

€Could your method be used to build €

any equation?
Has anyone come up with a different way to create an equation?
How could we check that these equations are correct? [Solve them or substitute x = 6 into them.]
Which is the easier method? Why? [Substitution is easier with the more difficult equations.]
Do any of the equations have more than one solution for x? Which ones? Please explain.
There are many methods students may use to create equations. Some use guess and check; some build
up an equation incrementally by performing the same operation on both sides of the equation.
In this lesson we will build equations in a step-by-step manner.
At each step, the same operation will be applied to each side of the equation.
In this way we can create complex-looking equations!
Write x = 4 on the board and ask students to suggest operations to build up an equation in a step-by-
step manner. One of the operations should involve x. For example:

x=4
Divide by 2
x
= 2
2
Add x
3x
€ = 2 +x
2
Multiply by 3
9x
€ 2
(
= 32 + x )
Subtract 1

9x
€ 2
(
- 1 = 32 + x - 1 )

Substitute the original value of x to check

€ that the equation is correct.

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-5

 Suppose now that you were given this final equation. How would you solve it?
Ask students to demonstrate how the resulting equation may be solved by reversing the sequence of
operations and carrying out the inverse of each one:

9x
2
(
− 1 = 32 + x − 1 )
Add 1
9x
2
(
= 32 + x )
€
Divide by 3
3x
€ = 2 +x
2

Subtract x
x
€ = 2
2

Multiply by 2
x=4
€

The equation may be solved by reversing the operations that were used to build it, but there are
also other ways to solve the equation.
Discuss how the example may be solved in other ways. For example:

9x
2
(
- 1 = 32 + x - 1 )
Add 1
9x
2
(
= 32 + x )
Multiply by 2 €

9x = 6(2 + x)
€
Distribute the
parentheses
9x = 12 + 6x

Subtract 6x
3x = 12

Divide by 3

x=4

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-6

 Collaborative activity (30 minutes)
Give each student the cut-up sheets Building Equations and Solving Equations.
You are going to build two equations for your partner to solve.
I want you to do this individually.
Explain the first task: Building and Checking an Equation, using Slide P-1:

Building and Checking an Equation

1. Make up your own value for x.

2. Build an equation. Use each of the four operations +, !,

!, and ÷ and different integers.

3. Make sure x appears on both sides of the final equation.

4. Use substitution to check that your equation works.

5. Now make up a second equation.

When students have created two equations, ask them to write the final equation on the Solving
P-1

Equations sheet. In the first column, they should also try to provide help, describing the operations
Projector resources Building and Solving Complex Equations

needed to solve the equation. This is explained on Slide P-2:

Using the Sheet: Solving Equations

Write finished
equation here.

Write operations
need to solve it
here, in any order.

For example, if you

added 2x to both
sides, write -2x.
If you divided both
sides by 3 then
write x3.

Now hand the sheet

to your partner.
Projector resources Building and Solving Complex Equations P-2

The sheet should be handed to the partner, who must try to solve each equation in two different ways.
Explain the second task: Solving Equations, using Slides P-3 and P-4:

Working Together: Solving Equations

1. Ask your partner to solve each equation.

• Solve one equation using the operations provided;
• Solve the same equation using a different method.
2. Help your partner if they become stuck.
3. If your partner’s answers are different from yours, ask
for an explanation. If you still don’t agree, explain your
own thinking.

It is important that you both agree on the answers.

Projector Resources Building and Solving Equations 2 P-3

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-7

 The purpose of this structured group work is to make students engage with each other’s explanations
and take responsibility for each other’s understanding.
While students are working in small groups you have two tasks: to note how students approach the
task and to support student reasoning.
Note different student approaches to the task
Notice how students make a start on the task, where they get stuck, and how they respond if they do
come to a halt. Notice any errors. Students may make calculation errors when substituting into
equations. They may use non-standard notation. Students may not perform operations on both sides
of the equation, or not use the distributive property accurately when solving equations. Students may
multiply or divide just one term in the expression, instead of the whole expression on both sides of the
equation. When solving an equation, students may not realize there could be more than one solution.
You can use this information to focus the whole-class discussion at the end of the lesson.
Support student reasoning
Try not to make suggestions that resolve errors and difficulties for students. Instead, ask questions to
help students to reason together to identify and resolve issues.
If the unknown is on both sides of the equation, how can you eliminate it from one side?
Explain how you know which operation to undo first.
How can you now check that you are correct?
Can you find a different way of writing this expression?
How do you know these two expressions are equal?
Comparing building and solving equations:
Can you use all the operations provided by your partner? Why/Why not?
[The partner, when building the equation may have simplified an expression.]
For the first solution, are the operations you used in the exact reverse order to that used to build
it? If not, why not?
Can you use the operations in a different order and still get the correct answer? Why/Why not?
Which method do you prefer? Why?
The questions in the Common issues table may also help you support your students.

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-8

 Encourage students who quickly complete the two sheets to create more challenging equations
without using the structured sheets. For example, they may want to include x2 or 1/x in their
equations.

Whole-class discussion (20 minutes)

Organize a discussion about what has been learned. Depending on how the lesson went, you may
want to focus on the common mistakes students made, review what has been learnt, or extend and
generalize the math.
Throughout this discussion encourage students to justify their answers. Try not to correct answers, but
encourage students to challenge each other's explanations.
Write this equation on the board:
#b − 1 &
5% − 1( + 2b
$ 2 '
= 5 + b
3

Show me a method for solving this equation.

€
After a few minutes ask students to show you their whiteboards. Ask two or three students with
different answers to justify them to the rest of the class.
This is one possible method:

"b − 1 %
5$ − 1' + 2b
# 2 &
= 5+b
3
Multiply by 3
"b − 1 %
Multiply by 3 5$ − 1' + 2b = 15 + 3b
# 2 &
Distribute the 5
5b − 5
Distribute the 5 − 5 + 2b = 15 + 3b
2
Add 5
5b − 5
Add 5 + 2b = 20 + 3b
2
Subtract 3b
5b − 5
Subtract 3b − b = 20
2
Multiply by 2

Multiply by 2 5b − 5 − 2b = 40
Simplify
Simplify 3b − 5 = 40
Add 5
Add 5 3b = 45

Divide by 3
Divide by 3 b = 15

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-9

 Ask students to critique each other’s solution methods.
Does anyone disagree with this method?
Does anyone have a different method?
Does anyone have a more efficient method?

Follow-up lesson: reviewing the assessment task (15 minutes)

Return to the students their original assessment Building and Solving Equations.
If you have not added questions to individual pieces of work, or highlighted questions on a sheet of
paper, then write your list of questions on the board. Students should select from this list only those
questions they think are appropriate to their own work.
Read through your original solutions to the task and think about what you have learned this
lesson.
Carefully read through the questions I have written.
Use what you have learnt to answer the questions.
If students struggled with the original assessment then they may benefit from revising this
assessment. In order that students can see their own progress, ask them to complete the task using a
different color pen or give them a second blank copy of the task. Otherwise give students a copy of
the task Building and Solving Equations (revisited).
Use what you have learned to complete the new assessment task/revise your answers.
You could give this task for homework.

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-10

 SOLUTIONS

Assessment task: Building and Solving Equations

There are several ways to solve each equation. Below are some examples.

1. 2x +1
+2 = x
3
2x +1
Subtract 2 = x−2
3
Multiply by 3 2x +1 = 3(x − 2)
Distribute parentheses 2x +1 = 3x − 6
Add 6 2x + 7 = 3x
Subtract 2x 7= x

2. I think of a number (call it w) Solving the equation:

Step 1: Multiply it by 2 2w - 1
+ w + 2 = 2w
Step 2: Subtract 1 5
Step 3: Divide by 5
2w - 1
Subtract w + 2 = w
5
Step 4: Add the number I started with Multiply by 5 2w - 1 + 10 = 5w
Step 5: Add 2 Simplify 2w + 9 = 5w
The result is double the number I started Subtract 2w 9 = 3w
with. Divide by 3 3 = w.

6x - 12 18
+ 4 =
3. 3 x
€
54
Multiply by 3 6x - 12 + 12 =
x
54
Simplify 6x =
x
2
Multiply by x 6x = 54
Divide by 6 x2 = 9
Square root x = 3 or x = - 3

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-11

 Assessment task: Building and Solving Equations (revisited)
There are several ways to solve each equation. Below are some examples.

1. 3y + 4
= y−3
4
Multiply by 4 3y + 4 = 4(y - 3)
Distribute parentheses 3y + 4 = 4y −12
Add 12 3y +16 = 4y
Subtract 3y 16 = y

2. I think of a number (call it w) Solving the equation:

Step 1: Multiply it by 3 ! 3w + 5 $
4# + 2 & - 3 = 5w
Step 2: Add 5 " 4 %
Step 3: Divide by 4 Distribute 3w + 5 + 8 − 3 = 5w
Simplify 3w + 10 = 5w
Step 4: Add 2
Subtract 2w 10 = 2w
Step 5: Multiply by 4
Divide by 2 5 = w.
Step 6: Subtract 3
The result is five times the number I started
with.

3. 24 + 2x 2x + 3
−1 =
x 3
72 + 6x
Multiply by 3 − 3 = 2x + 3
x
Multiply by x 72 + 6x - 3x = 2x 2 + 3x
Simplify 72 + 3x = 2x 2 + 3x
Subtract 3x 72 = 2x 2
Divide by 2 36 = x 2
Square root x = +6 or x = −6

Teacher guide Building and Solving Complex Equations T-12

 Building and Solving Equations
I think of a number.
Then I multiply it by 2.
Then I add 1.
Then I divide the answer by 3.
Then I add 2.
My final answer is equal to the number I thought of at the beginning.
Joseph

1. Write down an algebraic equation that represents this problem.

Solve your equation to find the number Joseph started with.

2(a) Another ‘think of a number’ problem is represented by the equation below.

2w −1
+ w + 2 = 2w
5
Complete the steps below to show the mental calculations that were made.

I think of a number (call it w)

Step 1: Multiply it by 2
Step 2:………………………………………………………………..
Step 3:………………………………………………………………..
Step 4: ………………………………………………………………. Wendy
Step 5:………………………………………………………………..
The result is double the number I started with.

Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-1

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
2(b) Solve Wendy’s equation using two different methods.
Show and explain all your steps.
Two different methods may include the same operations, but in a different order.
Try to make the methods as different as possible.
2w -1
+ w + 2 = 2w
5
Method 1: Method 2:

3. Solve the following equation. Show and explain all your steps.

6x - 12 18
+4=
3 x

Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-2

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
 Building Equations

Operations Operations

x= y=

This is Equation 1 This is Equation 2

Check Check

Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-3

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
 Solving Equations
Equation 1:

Solve it using these operations: Alternative solution

Operations Operations

Check

Equation 2:

Solve it using these operations: Alternative solution

Operations Operations

Check

Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-4

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
 Building and Solving Equations (revisited)
I think of a number.
Then I multiply it by 3.
Then I add 4.
Then I divide the answer by 4.
My final answer is 3 less than the number I thought of at the
beginning.
Max

1. Write down an algebraic equation that represents this problem.

Solve your equation to find the number Max started with.

2(a) Another ‘think of a number’ problem is represented by the equation below.

! 3w + 5 $
4# + 2 & − 3 = 5w
" 4 %
Complete the steps below to show the mental calculations that were made.

I think of a number (call it w)

Step 1: Multiply it by 3
Step 2:………………………………………………………………..
Step 3:………………………………………………………………..
Step 4: ………………………………………………………………. Colleen
Step 5:………………………………………………………………..
Step 6: ……………………………………………………………….
The result is five times the number I started with.

Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-5

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
2(b) Solve Colleen’s equation using two different methods.
Show and explain all your steps.
Two different methods may include the same operations, but in a different order.
Try to make the methods as different as possible.

æ 3w + 5 ö
4ç + 2 ÷ - 3 = 5w
è 4 ø

Method 1: Method 2

3. Solve the following equation. Show and explain all your steps.

24 + 2x 2x + 3
- 1=
x 3

Student materials Building and Solving Complex Equations S-6

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham
 Building and Checking an Equation

1. Make up your own value for x.

2. Build an equation. Use each of the four operations +, −,

×, and ÷ and different integers.

3. Make sure x appears on both sides of the final equation.

4. Use substitution to check that your equation works.

5. Now make up a second equation.

Projector resources Building and Solving Complex Equations P-1

 Using the Sheet: Solving Equations

Write finished
equation here.

Write operations
need to solve it
here, in any order.

For example, if you

added 2x to both
sides, write -2x.
If you divided both
sides by 3 then
write x3.

Now hand the sheet

to your partner.
Projector resources Building and Solving Complex Equations P-2
 Working Together: Solving Equations

1. Ask your partner to solve each equation.

• Solve one equation using the operations provided;
• Solve the same equation using a different method.
2. Help your partner if they become stuck.
3. If your partner’s answers are different from yours, ask
for an explanation. If you still don’t agree, explain your
own thinking.

It is important that you both agree on the answers.

Projector resources Building and Solving Complex Equations P-3

 Using the Sheet: Solving Equations

Solve the equation

using the given
operations here.

Solve the equation

using a different
method here.

Check your
answers here.

Projector resources Building and Solving Complex Equations P-4

 Mathematics Assessment Project

Classroom Challenges
These materials were designed and developed by the
Shell Center Team at the Center for Research in Mathematical Education
University of Nottingham, England:
Malcolm Swan,
Nichola Clarke, Clare Dawson, Sheila Evans, Colin Foster, and Marie Joubert
with
Hugh Burkhardt, Rita Crust, Andy Noyes, and Daniel Pead

We are grateful to the many teachers and students, in the UK and the US,
who took part in the classroom trials that played a critical role in developing these materials
The classroom observation teams in the US were led by
David Foster, Mary Bouck, and Diane Schaefer

This project was conceived and directed for

The Mathematics Assessment Resource Service (MARS) by
Alan Schoenfeld at the University of California, Berkeley, and
Hugh Burkhardt, Daniel Pead, and Malcolm Swan at the University of Nottingham

Thanks also to Mat Crosier, Anne Floyde, Michael Galan, Judith Mills, Nick Orchard, and Alvaro
Villanueva who contributed to the design and production of these materials

This development would not have been possible without the support of
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
We are particularly grateful to
Carina Wong, Melissa Chabran, and Jamie McKee

The full collection of Mathematics Assessment Project materials is available from

http://map.mathshell.org

© 2015 MARS, Shell Center, University of Nottingham

This material may be reproduced and distributed, without modification, for non-commercial purposes,
under the Creative Commons License detailed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
All other rights reserved.
Please contact [email protected] if this license does not meet your needs.