The purpose of this activity is for students to match multiplication equations to situations and representations. Students make explicit connections between the factors and the number of groups and the number of objects in each group and between the product and the total number of objects. These connections are discussed explicitly during the Activity Synthesis. When students make explicit connections between multiplication situations and equations, they are reasoning abstractly and quantitatively (MP2).

• “Were there any matches you disagreed on? How did you come to an agreement?” (We went back and recounted the dots together.)
• For the , , and matches ask, “How does the equation represent the situation (or diagram)?” (The 2 represents the 2 parts in the diagram. The 5 represents the 5 fingers on each hand. The 50 represents how many dots were in the groups altogether.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to write equations that match situations and diagrams. Students use what they learned in the last activity to use multiplication equations to represent situations and diagrams. In the Lesson Synthesis, use the words “factor” and “product” to help students connect the vocabulary to the concepts.

• For each problem, invite a student to share their equation. Consider asking:
  • “How does this equation make sense for this situation, drawing, or diagram?”
  • “What parts of the situation, drawing, or diagram were especially helpful as you wrote the equation?”