Order of Operations, It Matters!

We are learning about Order of Operations! Order matters if you want the right answer!  For example: IF you solve in order from left to right you get this answer:   $10 - 2 x $4  = $32   That would mean that you walked into a store with $10, bought 2 items for $4, and left with $32! NO! 

 $10 - (2 x $4)  = ? 

$10 - $8 = $2
You walked into a store with $10. You bought 2 items costing $4 each. You left with $2. 

YES!

Sean taught us a funny way to remember the Order of Operations 

My    Dear    Aunt    Sally 
(x,       ÷ ,      +,      -)

In class, we wrote stories for this equation:  

2 x 5 ÷ 5

Tabitha and Asha's Order of Operation problem:

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

Asha and Tabitha have FIVE apples each. They give apples to Neil Armstrong, Helen Keller, Milton Hershey, Mae Jemison, and Henry Ford. How many apples did each American get?  

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

By Nicholas and Sydney


William Mulholland and Teddy Roosevelt had FIVE Swedish Fish each. They divided them up between Anthony Reynoso, Grandma Tiny, Bill Gates, Louis Braille, and Helen Keller. How many Swedish Fish did each person get?  

Photo by Ethan

By Ty
There were FIVE strawberries. I bought FIVE more. I then divided all the strawberries between Squanto, Fritz, Snappy, Lobo, and John James Audubon. How many strawberries did each person or dog get?

By Sam

Sam and Snappy each have FIVE basketballs. They divided their 10 basketball among President Lincoln, President Washington, President Jefferson, President Roosevelt, and President Obama. How many basketballs does each president get? 

Photo by Sean

In the comment section, please answer one of the  word problems written above.

Make up an Order of Operations word problem using any equation from your homework p. 310 A. Any one from numbers  5-10 would work. 

Word Problems :: Explain Yourself!

Word problems can be complicated. Sometimes they involve many steps. If you make a mistake and don't realize it, your entire math problem will be incorrect.

We have been learning how to label or explain the steps in our word problems. Labeling helps students understand what each number means.

Here is problem #17 that was annotated in Skitch. (It is also available at the Google Play.)

Each color is a step.

Here is problem #12: 
Lauren has 43 stickers. She finds 5 more. She puts them in a book that holds 8 stickers on each page. How many pages will she need to put all the stickers in the book? 

Choose a problem to annotate and email it to Mrs. Yollis. If it is correct, it will be added to this post. Hint:  Use arrows wisely. Too many unnecessary arrows leads to confusion for the viewer!


UPDATE:

Here is a new annotated photo from Miss Jordan in Victoria, Australia. Teachers are always learning too! 

What did you learn from her annotations? Do you have any questions for Miss Jordan about her work?

What are some other ways to clarify word problems?

A New Word Problem

Today we learned about a new kind of math problem. It was different than other word problems we've done.   Usually word problems ask questions like:  

How many in all?         How many more?       How many fewer?

This was a new kind of word problem.

Panda and Hoppy left 25 comments. Hoppy left 5 more comments than Panda. 

How many comments did Panda leave? 

How many comments did Hoppy leave? 

Here is a tutorial a student made illustrating one way to solve this type of problem.  

What do you think of this process?

Here is another math problem to solve. 

Photo by Mrs. Ranney

Frogger and Curious George left 45 comments on the blog.

Frogger left 5 more comments than Curious George. 

How many comments did Frogger leave? 

How many comments did Curious George leave?

The answer is:

Frogger: 25 comments

Curious George: 20 comments

Write one of these new word problem for the class to use for practice?  

Multiplication/Division Pixie Problems!

Mrs. Yollis' third graders have been working with the computer teacher, Mrs. Minicozzi, to write multiplication and division story problems. 

First, students chose a X/÷ fact family and wrote the four equations. 

Example: 

6      7     42

6 x 7 = 42

7 x 6 = 42

42 ÷ 7 = 6

42 ÷ 6 = 7

Second,  students selected one of the fact family equations.

Third, students wrote a story to match the math equation. Fictional characters were used as the main characters.

Finally, students used the computer program called Pixie to illustrate their story problems. 

Enjoy!

What was the most difficult part about creating your Pixie pages? 

What advice would you give others who are using Pixie?

Make up another word problem in the comment section!