Unit 3, Lesson 3
Reasoning about Equations with Tape Diagrams
Accelerated 7
Preparation
Lesson Narrative
The purpose of this lesson is to make connections between a tape diagram and an equation of the form or Students match tape diagrams to corresponding equations and sort them into categories. Then they draw tape diagrams to represent equations. Students use the tape diagram and the equation to reason about a solution, but this is not the time to teach particular methods for solving such equations. At this point in the unit, students should reason using any method that makes sense to them.
- Coordinate tape diagrams and equations of the form $px+q=r$ or $p(x+q)=r$.
- Create a tape diagram to represent an equation of the form $px+q=r$ or $p(x+q)=r$, and use it to solve the equation.
- Identify equivalent equations, and justify (using words and other representations) that they are equivalent.
Let’s see how equations can describe tape diagrams.
Required Preparation
For the digital version of the activity, acquire devices that can run the applet.